Latest Articles

FinCEN’s NPRM Signals an Expanded Use of Section 311

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), pursuant to section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, finding that a class of transactions involving 10 Mexican gambling establishments are of “primary money laundering concern.” According to the press release announcing the NPRM, FinCEN has assessed that the gambling establishments have “directly and indirectly” facilitated money laundering benefiting a Mexico-based …

CFPB Seeks to Narrow Section 1071 Rule

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently released a proposed rule to scale back the 2023 final small business lending data collection rule (2023 final rule). The proposed rule would significantly narrow the scope of the 2023 final rule by redefining “small business,” limiting the types of transactions and institutions covered by the rule, removing several discretionary data points, and replacing a tiered compliance schedule …

Revising Reg B: CFPB Proposes Changes to Disparate Impact, Discouragement and Special Purpose Credit

On Thursday, November 13, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend provisions of Regulation B (12 CFR Part 1002), which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The NPRM proposes to modify Regulation B by: Removing language supporting disparate-impact liability under the ECOA. Narrowing the prohibition on discouragement of applicants or prospective applicants. Establishing new standards …

10th Circuit Upholds Colorado’s DIDMCA Opt Out, Deepening States’ Power Over Bank-Fintech Partnership Lending – But Not Without Dissent

On November 10, 2025, the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit issued its opinion in National Association of Industrial Bankers v. Weiser, a closely watched case testing the boundaries of state authority over interest-rate caps for loans made by state-chartered banks over the internet. The decision, which reversed a district court injunction, allows Colorado to enforce its own limits on loans to Colorado …

CFPB Faces Uncertain Future as Funding Shortfall Looms

On November 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) informed the US District Court for the District of Columbia that it expects to run out of funds in early 2026. The CFPB filed the Notice of Potential Lapse in the ongoing National Treasury Employees Union v. Vought lawsuit, in which the union representing CFPB employees is challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to shut down the agency. …

Court Enjoins CFPB’s Open Banking Rule Pending New Rulemaking

On October 29, 2025, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) from enforcing its Personal Financial Data Rights (PFDR) final rule until the CFPB completes its new rulemaking. The injunction, therefore, halts compliance deadlines that would have required certain financial institutions to implement new data-sharing standards as early as June …

Attorneys General Share Updates on State Priorities

Cooley partner Kate Goodman recently attended the National Association of Attorneys General’s Fall Consumer Protection Conference in Washington, DC. The annual conference for attorneys general and staff, consumer advocates and industry stakeholders, explores hot topics in consumer protection, with the first day open to the public and the remaining days exclusive to attorneys general and their staff. One of the central themes was price transparency …

Federal Debanking Scrutiny Prompts Compliance Questions

Michelle Rogers, partner and chair of Cooley’s financial services enforcement and regulatory practice group, and lawyers Elyse Moyer and Christine Thebaud co-authored an article in Law360 detailing compliance questions and concerns following the US Small Business Administration’s recent instruction to its network of lenders to cease any “politicized or unlawful debanking” actions. Read the article (subscription required)

Federal Banking Regulators Rescind Guidance on Climate-Related Financial Risks

On October 16, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve (Fed) jointly announced the rescission of guidance intended to mitigate climate-related financial risks at large financial institutions. The October 2023 interagency guidance, “Principles for Climate-Related Financial Risk Management for Large Financial Institutions,” had required financial institutions[1] with more than $100 billion in total assets to …

OCC to Halt Fair Lending Exams

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently announced a stop to fair lending examinations of the banks it supervises until early 2026, in the most recent change in the federal government’s policy shift away from fair lending enforcement and supervision. As reported by Bloomberg Law, an internal OCC email from Chief National Bank Examiner Jay Gallagher announced that the agency would “defer” all …