2011 – Page 3 – Consumer Financial Services Watch

CFPB Official Hints at Disclosure Requirements for Checking Accounts

Oct 10 2011

Raj Date recently issued a statement on the CFPB’s web site which suggests that the Bureau is considering a standardized disclosure form for checking account fees. The “problem,” Mr. Date said, “is that checking accounts often come with a wide variety of unexpected costs that can quickly add up for consumers.” One bank might call the fee one thing, while another bank calls it something else. And the circumstances under which banks charge the same fee might be different. Read More

California Governor Vetoes Burdensome Payroll Card Bill

Oct 10 2011

By: David L. Beam, Steven M. Kaplan, Kathryn M. Baugher

The effort to impose demanding new requirements on payroll cards in California just lost some steam. On Sunday, October 9, California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have imposed an onerous set of requirements and restrictions on employers who want to pay employees by payroll card (and, by extension, the financial institutions that provide payroll card programs to employers). The provisions of the Bill were vastly more burdensome than the requirements imposed by federal law and many other state wage and hour laws. Fortunately, Governor Brown recognized that the Bill went too far.

To view the complete alert online, click here.

Is the CFPB a Step Closer to Having a Leader?

Oct 07 2011

By: Stephanie C. Robinson

Richard Cordray’s nomination to become the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be in the hands of the full Senate now that the Senate Banking Committee has approved his nomination along a 12-10 party-line vote. But will the CFPB ever have an official leader in place? Not at this rate.

It has been fourteen months since Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, and the new government agency still has no formal leader. Read More

And the Plot Thickens: the CFPB Issues a Quartet of Interim Final Rules Laying Out Its Investigatory and Enforcement Procedures

Aug 16 2011

By: Melanie Hibbs Brody, Paul F. Hancock, David G. McDonough, Jr., Stephanie C. Robinson

The powerful new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “Bureau” or “CFPB”) is up and running, and is expected to soon begin investigating and prosecuting claims against covered persons under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (the “CFPA” or “Act”).

To this end, on July 28, 2011, the Bureau issued four interim final rules setting out procedures governing: (i) Bureau investigations of possible violations of federal consumer financial law; (ii) the Bureau’s use of administrative adjudications to enforce compliance with the Act, rules issued under the Act, and any other federal law or regulation the Bureau is authorized to enforce; (iii) how the Bureau will handle confidential information obtained from persons over which it exercises its authority; and (iv) the process by which state officials must notify the CFPB of actions or proceedings they take under the Act.

To read the complete alert online, click here.

Bureau Asks for Help Deciding Whom to Supervise

Jul 06 2011

By: David L. Beam, Stephanie C. Robinson

Debt collectors, consumer lenders, money transmitters, and prepaid card issuers, be forewarned: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “Bureau”) thinks it might need to send some examiners to your offices to see if you are complying with consumer protection laws.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires the Bureau to examine large banks, thrifts, credit unions, and their affiliates. The Act also allows the Bureau to conduct routine examinations of nonbank covered personsin the residential mortgage lending, private education lending, and payday lending markets, among others. Nondepository covered persons such as these will be subject to a risk-based supervision program that is designed to assess the covered person for compliance with Federal consumer financial law, obtain information about its activities, and assess risks to consumers and to the consumer financial markets. They may also have to register with the Bureau to help support the implementation of its supervision program.

To read the complete alert online, click here.

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