On, November 2, 2016, during its weekly meeting, the Swiss Federal Council (the Council), the executive council which serves as the collective executive head of the government of Switzerland, requested an easing of the Swiss regulatory framework for providers of innovative financial technologies (FinTech). The Council stated that it desires forward thinking comprehensive solutions for … Continue Reading
State attorneys General (AGs) continue to emerge as major regulators of financial services and show little sign of being cowed by their federal counterparts….or efforts to preempt state authority. This week, representatives of the consumer protection divisions of the AGs of nearly all 50 states plus officials from the FTC and CFPB met in Phoenix … Continue Reading
On April 25, Reed Smith hosted a FinTech lunch event at its London offices, led by partners Tamara Box, Nola Beirne, Jacqui Hatfield, Cynthia O’Donoghue, Claude Brown, Simon Grieser, Mike Young and Mark Melodia. Our external guests and Reed Smith lawyers were joined by our guest speaker Adam Afriyie, MP for Windsor and Chair of … Continue Reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has published its long anticipated 377-page proposed rule to bar banks and regulated financial institutions from including class action waivers in mandatory arbitration provisions in consumer contracts. Mandatory arbitration clauses, and class action waivers, are pervasive in financial contracts. According to a study by the CFPB in 2015 arbitration clauses … Continue Reading
Reed Smith has issued the first comprehensive white paper discussing the comments submitted in response to Treasury’s July 2015 Request for Information (RFI) on marketplace lending. The RFI, entitled “Public Input on Expanding Access to Credit through Online Marketplace Lending,” sought public comment on the FinTech business models applicable to online lending, the potential for … Continue Reading
On January 15, 2016, the CFPB Office of Enforcement asserted that claims pursued in administrative enforcement actions are not subject to the three-year statute of limitations set forth in the Consumer Financial Protection Act, signaling that the agency is willing to target long-ago violations when seeking restitution and penalties. The CFPA — also known as Title … Continue Reading
On December 16, 2015, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued its semiannual risk assessments for federally chartered financial institutions (PDF here). Relevant to FinTech, the OCC noted: Banks are increasingly adopting innovative products, services, and processes in response to the evolving needs for financial services and growing competition from other banks and … Continue Reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced this week that it has filed an administrative lawsuit against defunct online lender Integrity Advance and its CEO for allegedly deceiving consumers about the cost of short-term loans. Integrity Advance was a Delaware-based online lender which originated and serviced short-term, small-value, loans to consumers. The CFPB alleges that … Continue Reading
On Halloween eve, three years after authorization by the JOBS Act, the SEC finally adopted rules permitting small ventures and business startups to raise up to $1 million over a 12-month period by selling shares to the investing public through crowdfunding offerings conducted on Internet fundraising portals. Qualifying businesses and intermediary portals will be subject … Continue Reading
The increased use of Yelp reviews, Facebook “likes” and other social media interactions to determine a borrower’s creditworthiness has caught the attention of regulators in US Department of Treasury, amid concerns that the data is too subjective and could result in discriminatory lending patterns if not used properly. On October 29, Antonio Wiess, an advisor … Continue Reading
After the FCC’s omnibus ruling drastically increasing the scope of the TCPA’s definition of autodialer, TCPA litigation has become a fight about consent. This has resulted in plaintiffs creating novel theories of consent–that it only applied to certain calls, or at certain time periods, etc. If adopted, such a rule would create a headache for any … Continue Reading
On September 1, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) won an important decision in which a federal court, for the first time, interpreted the meaning of “recklessly provid[ing] substantial assistance” under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”). Perhaps since it was an order denying the defendants’ motions to dismiss released just before the Labor … Continue Reading
In a move long anticipated by the industry, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on October 7, 2015 proposed to ban class action waivers in consumer financial contracts. Although the proposed ban would not take effect for a few years, it could lead to an increase in consumer class action lawsuits—some of which have been … Continue Reading
Jacqui Hatfield and Melanie Shone have recently written an article titled The FCA and FinTech: playing by the rules to support FinTech disruption, examining the role of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in supporting the disruptive innovation of FinTech. The UK has one of the largest concentrations of emergent FinTech companies in the world … Continue Reading
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has announced a new initiative to keep pace with innovation in the financial. On August 7, 2015, in remarks before the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, the Comptroller of the Currency, Thomas J. Curry discussed the OCC’s efforts to develop a framework to evaluate new and … Continue Reading
On July 9, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continued its focus on payment processing and joined the Federal Reserve’s efforts to develop faster and more secure payment systems by releasing its “Vision of Consumer Protection in New Faster Payment Systems”. The CFPB recognized the added benefits to consumers that evolving payment technology provides, including: … Continue Reading