David Reidy

Blogs: Class Action Countermeasures, Consumer FinSights, Subject to Inquiry

Latest Articles

Supreme Court to Consider the CFPB’s Constitutionality: Key Takeaways

By Joshua Davey, Bill Mayberry, Joseph J. Reilly & David Reidy

October 21, 2019

On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider the constitutionality of the Dodd-Frank Act law that prohibits the President from removing a CFPB Director except for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance” — the so-called “for cause” restriction (see 12 U.S.C. §5491(c)(c)). The Court’s decision to address this restriction, which the CFPB announced last month it would no longer defend, is not a surprise. We therefore focus here on three key questions raised by…

Consumer FinSights

Seeking to Promote Financial Innovation, CFPB Revises No Action Letter Policy and Announces Other Initiatives

By Joseph J. Reilly, David Reidy & Neelam Takhar

September 13, 2019

On Tuesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“Bureau”) published a revised No Action Letter (“NAL”) policy aimed at offering financial innovators an avenue for obtaining more regulatory certainty before introducing new products and services. The Bureau paired its release of the revised NAL policy with an announcement of two new, related policies: one aimed at offering protection to the same innovators by allowing them to test new products in a controlled, “sandbox” environment; and one…

Class Action Countermeasures

11th Circuit Ruling Calls Text Message TCPA Class Actions Into Question

By David Reidy & Anthony Q. Le

August 30, 2019

TCPA class actions based on the receipt of unsolicited text messages have grown more common in recent years. However, the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Salcedo v. Hanna, may upend that trend by holding that a single unsolicited text message did not generate the harm necessary to satisfy Article III standing to sustain a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) claim. In Salcedo, the Eleventh Circuit reviewed its own precedent, the legislative history of the TCPA, and…

Consumer FinSights

CFPB Issues Proposed Debt Collection Rule

By David Reidy, Joshua Davey, Joseph J. Reilly & Neelam Takhar

May 7, 2019

As we anticipated last week, today the CFPB issued its much anticipated proposal to adopt the first substantive regulations to govern the activity of debt collectors under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) since that law’s passage in 1977 (Proposal). The Proposal, which runs over 530 pages, would among other things: set limits on the number of calls that debt collectors may place to reach consumers on a weekly basis; clarify how collectors…

Consumer FinSights

New York’s Lawsuit Contesting the OCC’s Fintech Charter Survives First Legal Hurdle

By Alexander Gershen & David Reidy

May 6, 2019

On May 2, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) motion to dismiss a complaint brought against it by the Maria T. Vullo, superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). The complaint had challenged the OCC’s authority to provide its special-purpose charter to fintech companies under the National Bank Act (NBA). Click here and here for…

Consumer FinSights

Affirm GC Manny Alvarez Appointed California DBO Commissioner

By David Reidy

April 1, 2019

On Thursday, March 28, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that Manuel “Manny” Alvarez, 38, has been appointed Commissioner of the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO). Alvarez is currently general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary at Affirm Inc., the point-of-sale lending platform founded by PayPal’s Max Levchin in 2012. Alvarez’s appointment requires California State Senate confirmation. See the Governor’s press release here.…

Consumer FinSights

SEC Increases Activity with Retail Investors: Misappropriation

By Natasha S. Cooper & David Reidy

January 2, 2019

With the SEC prioritizing protection of retail investors, investment advisers are facing increased scrutiny for misappropriation offenses. Adviser representatives are becoming more creative, making it harder for investment advisers to detect misappropriation. It may be easy for investment advisers to rely on software and automated-alerts to safeguard client assets, but the days of solely relying on software or even traditional confirmation letters are gone. On Sept. 25, 2018, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) …

Consumer FinSights

CFPB Proposes Changes to No-Action Letter Policy and Creation of Product Sandbox

By Anastasia Cordova & David Reidy

December 19, 2018

The CFPB is proposing revisions to its 2016 no-action letter (“NAL”) policy and is planning to establish “BCFP Product Sandbox,” a regulatory sandbox that would encourage financial institutions to explore innovative products. The revamped policy would address the shortcomings in the 2016 version and streamline the application submission and review process, thus providing banks with increased incentives to seek NALs. Specifically, the revised policy proposes the following key changes: Including language in NALs that the…

Consumer FinSights

State Regulators Sue to Stop OCC Fintech Charter

By Alexander Gershen & David Reidy

November 1, 2018

On October 25, 2018, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) renewed its lawsuit against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) seeking to prevent the OCC from issuing its long awaited special-purpose bank charters to fintech companies. The OCC recently announced that it would begin accepting applications for the special-purpose charter, a move that would allow the OCC to regulate fintech companies similar to their supervision of national banks. The lawsuit, filed…

Subject to Inquiry

California Passes Small Business Truth-in-Lending Law

By David Reidy & Anthony Q. Le

October 25, 2018

This post originally appeared on our sister publication Consumer FinSights On September 30, 2018, California enacted the nation’s first small business truth-in-lending law when Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB 1235. The law aims to protect small businesses from predatory lending practices by requiring increased transparency of certain business-purpose loans marketed to small businesses. SB 1235 draws comparisons to the federal Truth in Lending Act, which imposes disclosure requirements for consumer-purpose, but not…

David Reidy

Supreme Court to Consider the CFPB’s Constitutionality: Key Takeaways

Seeking to Promote Financial Innovation, CFPB Revises No Action Letter Policy and Announces Other Initiatives

11th Circuit Ruling Calls Text Message TCPA Class Actions Into Question

CFPB Issues Proposed Debt Collection Rule

New York’s Lawsuit Contesting the OCC’s Fintech Charter Survives First Legal Hurdle

Affirm GC Manny Alvarez Appointed California DBO Commissioner

SEC Increases Activity with Retail Investors: Misappropriation

CFPB Proposes Changes to No-Action Letter Policy and Creation of Product Sandbox

State Regulators Sue to Stop OCC Fintech Charter

California Passes Small Business Truth-in-Lending Law

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