Under the leadership of its new Director, Rohit Chopra, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) appears poised to take a more active supervisory and enforcement posture, including with respect to Fintech – a sector that has not historically been a focus for the agency. Since taking office on October 12th, Director Chopra has made various public statements indicating concerns about the growing role of technology companies in providing financial services to consumers. To that end, his first official action was a sweeping information request issued to large tech firms that offer payments products, seeking information about, among other things, data privacy and security practices. Although it is not clear what actions the CFPB may take, there is no doubt that Fintech is in the agency’s crosshairs like never before.
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