On September 15, the FTC released a report, Bringing Dark Patterns to Light, that shows an increase in the use of sophisticated “dark pattern” design practices by retailers intended to manipulate consumers into making decisions that benefit the retailers at the consumers’ expense. The report examined the use of dark patterns across a variety of industries and contexts, including e-commerce, cookie consent banners, children’s applications, and subscription sales. The report highlighted four common tactics:
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Continue Reading FTC Reports Rise in “Dark Pattern” Tactics in Consumer Markets

On September 22, the CFPB released its annual report providing an overview of the residential mortgage trends and activity in 2021 based on data collected from thousands of U.S. lending institutions under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Some of the key findings in the report include:
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Continue Reading 2021 CFPB Annual Report Shows Increase in Home Purchase Loans, Decrease in Refinancing

On September 14, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) published a notice of proposed rules under New York’s Commercial Financing Disclosure Law (CFDL) (we discussed this previous rulemaking in a blog post here). Under the CFDL, commercial finance companies are required to give consumer-style loan disclosures to potential recipients when a specific offering of finance is extended for certain commercial transactions of $2.5 million or less. We note some items in particular from the latest proposed rule:
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Continue Reading New York Publishes Proposed Rules on Commercial Financing Disclosures

On September 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued an order in Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc. dismissing the case after determining that plaintiff failed to allege a concrete harm, and thus lacked standing to sue the debt collector for its use of a third-party mail vendor in connection with its debt collection activities (we discussed this case in a previous blog post here).
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Continue Reading Eleventh Circuit Dismisses Debt Collection Letter Case For Lack of Standing

On August 30, the Commissioner of the California DFPI issued a notice of rulemaking proposing new regulations and amendments to current regulations implementing the state’s student loan servicing laws. The proposed regulations aim to implement the provisions of the Student Loan Servicing Act and the Student Loans: Borrower Rights law by:
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Continue Reading California Regulator Proposes Changes to Student Loan Servicing Laws

Recently, the CFPB released a report outlining the challenges and risks inherent in the rapid evolution of the payment ecosystem, with a particular focus on emerging uses cases involving “super apps,” buy now, pay later (BNPL), and embedded payments, as well as their implications for consumers. The report notes that these changes create more opportunities for companies to aggregate and monetize consumer financial data, and for large players to dominate consumers’ financial and commercial lives.
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Continue Reading CFPB Warns of Consumer Risk Over New Payment Products, Foreshadows Supervision of BNPLs

On September 7, Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Michael Hsu, discussed the long-term threats to trust in banking in remarks at the TCH + BPI Annual Conference. Hsu provided updates on key priorities at the OCC, including the impact of “fintechs and big techs” over their digitalization of banking through the advancement of crypto (we discussed Hsu’s previous remarks on crypto here and here). Hsu highlighted the OCC’s position of a “careful and cautious” approach to crypto. In doing so, he referred to Interpretive Letter 1179, which clarifies that national banks and federal savings associations should not engage in certain crypto activities unless they are able to “demonstrate, to the satisfaction of its supervisory office, that [they have] controls in place to conduct the activity in a safe and sound manner” (we discussed Letter 1179 in a previous blog post here). Hsu noted that the federally regulated banking system has been largely unaffected by the collapse of several crypto platforms because, at least in part, of the OCC’s careful and cautious approach.
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Continue Reading OCC Highlights Focus on Crypto and Bank-FinTech Partnerships, Anticipates Stricter Scrutiny Going Forward

On September 1, the FTC issued an administrative complaint and consent order alleging that a credit services company harmed consumers by making false claims of “pre-approved” credit offers, enticing many consumers to apply for offers they ultimately did not qualify for and unnecessary credit checks.
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Continue Reading FTC Targets Credit Services Company For False “Pre-Approved” Credit Offers

The FTC recently published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to discuss harms associated with the collection, processing, and selling of personal data. The FTC is inviting public comments on whether it should implement new rules on how companies:
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Continue Reading FTC Signals Focus on Increasing Protections Around Personal Data

On July 29, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) released Draft Amendments to its Part 500 Cybersecurity Rules that would impose new obligations on financial institutions on reporting, governance, testing, access management, risk assessment, business continuity plans, among others.
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Continue Reading New York Proposes Cybersecurity Rules for Financial Institutions