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 …
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To Carry Out EO, SBA Orders Its Lenders to Review and End Debanking Practices
The US Small Business Administration (SBA) has sent letters to its network of more than 5,000 lenders to stop “politicized or unlawful debanking” practices. The directive follows President Donald Trump’s recent executive order to cease debanking based on political, religious or ideological beliefs. Lenders must take specific actions to ensure compliance with the new federal mandate and avoid discriminatory banking practices. Read more ›
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 …
District Court Vacates Regulation II’s Debit Card Interchange Fee Standard
A federal district court recently vacated the Federal Reserve Board’s Regulation II, which includes a cap on the fees that bank issuers may charge merchants for processing debit transactions. The court concluded that the rule is contrary to law and the Federal Reserve exceeded its statutory authority under the Durbin Amendment. The vacatur is currently stayed pending an anticipated appeal to the US Court of …
Executive Order Guarantees Efforts Against Debanking Will Continue
The White House recently issued an executive order (EO) aimed at combatting “politicized or unlawful” debanking. Among other requirements, the EO requires “Federal banking regulators” and the Small Business Administration (SBA) to eliminate from their guidance and other materials the use of reputation risk that could result in debanking and take remedial action against past instances of debanking. This EO is the latest in a …
CFPB Reconsiders Section 1033 Rule Signaling Potential Overhaul of Personal Financial Data Rights Framework
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s position on Section 1033 continues to evolve under the Trump administration. Following a request to vacate the 2024 Personal Financial Data Rights rule (PFDR), on July 29, 2025, the CFPB changed its position, announcing it would initiate a new rulemaking to reconsider the PFDR. On August 22, the CFPB published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) seeking public comment …
Open Banking Is on Ice as CFPB Seeks to Toss Its Own Rule
Cooley lawyers Obrea Poindexter and Palmer Quamme co-authored an article for Law360 about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s bid to rescind its own rule, implementing Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act concerning personal financial data rights. Read more ›
US DOJ Memo Clarifies DEI Compliance for Federal Funding Recipients
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) released a memo directed at all federal agencies, setting forth the department’s view on how federal antidiscrimination laws apply to programs or initiatives, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. The memo provides a nonexhaustive list of unlawful DEI practices that could result in revocation of federal grant funding, and it offers best practices for organizations to minimize the …
FTC Delays Enforcement of Amended Negative Option Rule
On May 9, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously to delay enforcement of most portions of its amended Negative Option Rule by 60 days, shifting the compliance deadline for those portions from May 14 to July 14, 2025. Once fully enforced, the rule will impose sweeping new requirements on businesses offering subscription-based services, including enhanced consent, disclosure and cancellation obligations. Read more ›
CFPB Issues Interim Final Rule Extending Small Business Lending Rule Compliance Deadlines
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently issued an interim final rule delaying compliance deadlines for a second time for its small business lending data collection rule, which amended Regulation B pursuant to Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The interim final rule extends compliance deadlines for the small business lending rule by roughly one year across all origination tiers. The CFPB states in the …