On March 1, 2018, the CFPB released its sixth Request for Information as part of its initiative to reexamine the Bureau’s existing policies and procedures under Acting Director Mick Mulvaney’s leadership. This RFI addresses how the Bureau analyzes and reports consumer complaint information. The RFI requests feedback to assist the Bureau in “assessing potential changes that can be implemented to the Bureau’s public reporting practices of consumer complaint information, consistent with law,” and solicits suggestions…

On February 14, 2018, the CFPB issued a Request for Information seeking comments on improvements to the CFPB’s supervision program and “how best to achieve meaningful burden reduction.” The CFPB is seeking comments from “all interested members of the public,” including supervised entities, companies supervised by other agencies, consumer advocates, and regulators. The CFPB asks commenters to provide “as much detail as possible” without disclosing confidential supervisory information. This RFI is the fourth in a…

The CFPB recently announced the issuance of its first no-action letter (“NAL”) to Upstart Network, Inc., an online lending platform that uses alternative data to model consumer credit decisioning and pricing. The letter signifies that the CFPB has no present intention to recommend an enforcement or supervisory action against Upstart for violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. This NAL comes as the Bureau “continues to explore the use of alternative data to help make…

On July 7, 2017, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released its Semiannual Risk Perspective report identifying the risks faced by national banks and federal savings associations in the 12-month period ending December 31, 2016. The Report, which is intended to highlight key risk issues facing the federal banking system, noted that strategic, credit, operational and compliance risks of banks remained a “top concern” for the agency during this period. The Report comes at a…

On April 27, 2017, the CFPB filed a complaint in a federal district court in Illinois against four online tribal-affiliated lenders alleging that the lenders violated the Truth in Lending Act, and engaged in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices. The CFPB is seeking injunctive relief and damages against the online lenders. Read our client alert.…

On February 16, 2017, the CFPB issued a Request for Information regarding use of alternative data and modeling techniques in the consumer lending “credit process.” The CFPB defines the “credit process” broadly as all processes and decisions made by a creditor during the full life cycle of the credit product, including marketing, pre-screening, fraud prevention, application, underwriting, account management, credit authorization, setting of pricing and terms, and servicing and collection of debts. According to the…

On December 2, 2016, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry confirmed that the agency will begin considering applications from FinTech companies to become special purpose national banks, saying that the OCC will charter “financial technology companies that offer bank products and services and meet our high standards and chartering requirements.” The OCC simultaneously released a white paper on issues addressing the conditions on extending national bank charters to FinTech companies. Read our client alert.…