On October 22, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) marked a significant milestone in the shift towards open banking in the United States with the finalization of its rulemaking on Personal Financial Data Rights. As we discussed in our Legal Update on the October 2023 proposed rule, the final rule provides the long-awaited implementation of Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, enacted in 2010, and establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework to provide consumers—and their authorized third parties—with rights to receive structured, consistent and timely access to consumers’ personal financial data held by financial institutions and other financial services providers.

The 594-page final rule is intended to allow consumers to access and share data held by banks, credit unions, credit card issuers, digital wallets, payment apps and other financial service providers, with the goal of improving customer choice and increasing competition, while strengthening consumer protections by imposing limitations on authorized third parties’ collection, use and retention of consumers’ data. Financial institutions subject to the final rule could face a variety of compliance, operational and technical challenges as they build out the infrastructure necessary to comply with the final rule. For the largest financial institutions, which include depository institutions with total assets in excess of $250 billion and non-depository institutions that generated at least $10 billion in total receipts in either calendar year 2023 or calendar year 2024, compliance is required by April 1, 2026, with compliance by smaller covered institutions required in phases beginning April 1, 2027, through April 1, 2030.Continue Reading CFPB Issues Long-Awaited Open Banking Rule; Lawsuit Immediately Filed

On June 18, state-chartered banks and their fintech partners received welcome news in ongoing litigation challenging the scope of Colorado’s opt-out from the interest exportation regime established by the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (DIDMCA). The US District Court for the District of Colorado issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting state officials from enforcing state-specific interest limitations against any member of the plaintiff associations—the National Association of Industrial Bankers, American Financial Services Association and American Fintech Council—with respect to any loan not “made” in Colorado, where “made” means that the lender is located and conducts certain key loan-making functions.Continue Reading DIDMCA Opt-Out Update—District Court Constrains Colorado Opt-Out

Mayer Brown has published a new edition of Licensing Link, a periodic publication that will keep you informed on hot topics and new developments in state licensing laws, and provide practice tips and primers on important issues related to state licensing across the spectrum of asset classes and financial services activities.

In this issue, we

Mayer Brown is publishing its first edition of Licensing Link, a new periodic publication that will keep you informed on hot topics and new developments in state licensing laws, and provide practice tips and primers on important issues related to state licensing across the spectrum of asset classes and financial services activities.

In this

Marketplace lender Opportunity Financial, LLC has gone on the offensive against the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation to protect its bank partnership program against challenge on a “true lender” theory. On March 7, 2022, OppFi filed suit against the DFPI to ask the state court to declare that FinWise Bank, a Utah-chartered bank,

On Thursday (March 26, 2021), Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval to invalidate the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) true lender rule. The resolution is co-sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Catherine Cortez-Masto (NV), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) participated in the introduction of the resolution, signaling support for the resolution by House Democrats. The Biden Administration has not yet stated its support for the resolution, though President Biden is likely to sign the resolution into law if Congress passes it.

With the statutory deadline for Congress to take up the resolution of disapproval quickly approaching in approximately mid-May, Congress will have to either pass the resolution when it returns in April from its two week recess, or effectively defer to President Biden’s future Comptroller of the Currency to determine the future of the rule. Given the Democrats’ narrow majorities in both houses of Congress, the vote on the resolution is expected to be close with possible defections on both sides of the aisle. If Congress does not pass the resolution by the statutory deadline, the new Comptroller of the Currency could still seek to repeal or modify the rule at a later date. President Biden has not yet announced a nominee for Comptroller.
Continue Reading Congress Prepares to Invalidate OCC’s True Lender Rule

On Friday, the United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) finalized a regulation regarding the “Permissible Interest on Loans that are Sold, Assigned, or Otherwise Transferred” by national banks and federal savings associations. Initially proposed in November 2019, the regulation provides that interest on a loan that is permissible under provisions of federal banking laws establishing the interest authority of national banks and federal savings associations is not affected by a sale, assignment, or transfer of the loan—effectively permitting subsequent holders of loans originated by OCC-regulated entities to take advantage of the originators’ “Interest Exportation Authority.” The rule will be effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Continue Reading The OCC Finalizes “Madden Fix” Regulation, Codifying the “Valid-when-Made” Doctrine as Applicable to Loans Made by National Banks and Federal Savings Associations

The ABA Business Law Section is holding its 2018 Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas on September 13-15, 2018. The Meeting will offer over 80 CLE programs and many more committee meetings and events, and will feature several Mayer Brown panelists.

Financial Services Regulatory & Enforcement (FSRE) partner Laurence Platt will participate in a panel

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has issued its first No-Action Letter (“No-Action Letter” or “Letter”) in response to a request from Upstart Network, Inc. (“Upstart”). The No-Action Letter means that CFPB staff currently has no intention of recommending enforcement or supervisory action against Upstart. This decision is limited to the application of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and its implementing regulation, Regulation B, to Upstart’s automated model for underwriting applicants for unsecured, non-revolving credit (“automated model”).

Upstart is an online lending platform that, working with a bank partner, uses alternative data to facilitate credit and pricing decisions for consumers with limited credit or work history. In addition to relying on traditional credit information, Upstart uses non-traditional sources of information to evaluate a consumer’s creditworthiness. For instance, Upstart might look at an applicant’s educational information, such as school attended and degree obtained, and the applicant’s employment to determine financial capacity and ability to repay. Upstart submitted a Request for No-Action Letter (“Request”) in relation to its automated model to the CFPB pursuant to the agency’s no-action letter policy.

According to the CFPB, the no-action letter policy is intended to facilitate consumer-friendly innovations where regulatory uncertainty may exist for certain emerging products or services. In practice, however, the process has presented significant challenges for companies that might seek to benefit from it.
Continue Reading CFPB Issues No-Action Letter to Alternative Credit Lending Platform

Last week was busy for the financial technology industry (Fintechs) and non-bank regulators.

New York joined the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) in filing a lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and announced plans to adopt a uniform licensing system for Fintechs. CSBS issued its support of the lawsuit,