The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) open banking rulemaking is at a pivotal moment. After the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky enjoined enforcement of the CFPB’s Personal Financial Data Rights (PFDR) rule in October, the CFPB this week disclosed in a court filing that it will issue an interim final rule under Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB recently …
DOJ Ends Disparate-Impact Liability Under Title VI, Narrowing Civil Rights Enforcement
On December 9, 2025, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a final rule eliminating “disparate-impact” liability from its Title VI regulations. The final rule rescinds portions of DOJ’s Title VI regulations that allowed disparate-impact claims (i.e., challenges to neutral policies with disproportionate effects on protected groups) and aligns DOJ’s enforcement approach with the administration’s broader campaign to curtail disparate-impact liability across federal agencies. This …
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 …
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 …
CFPB Rescinds Amendments to Confidentiality of Nonbank Supervisory Proceeding Outcomes
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a final rule that rescinds Biden-era amendments made to its procedures for supervisory designations of nonbanks. The amended rule reestablishes that decisions and orders in contested supervisory designation proceedings held pursuant to section 1024(b)(7) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) are confidential. This change effectively reinstates the confidentiality standard for supervisory designation proceedings first established in a …
Fed Signals Fraud a Top Priority in Special Compliance Outlook Issue
The Federal Reserve focused its latest Consumer Compliance Outlook on fraud, shining a light on a significant issue impacting consumers and financial institutions alike. The issue details a surge in check fraud and mail-related scams, emphasizing that traditional payment methods remain highly vulnerable, and encourages banks to strengthen fraud prevention efforts and increase consumer education initiatives. As further exemplified by the banking agencies’ recent joint …
CFPB Narrows Its Supervision of Nonbanks
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently proposed a rule that would likely limit the nonbanks it supervises to those whose activities “pose a high likelihood of significant harm to consumers” in connection with offering or providing consumer financial products or services. The CFPB’s rule would more narrowly construe a provision of the Consumer Financial Protection Act that the CFPB has relied on to supervise …