The Senate Commerce Committee voted yesterday to advance President Biden’s nomination of Lina Khan to serve as FTC Commissioner.  Only four Republican Senators voted not to advance Ms. Khan, which is viewed as an indication of bipartisan support for a change in the FTC’s approach to antitrust regulation and enforcement.  The nomination now moves to a vote by the full Senate. If confirmed, Ms. Khan will fill the FTC seat vacated by former FTC Chairman…

After reviewing the existing types of federal student loans and forgiveness programs, we discuss the current political debate over forgiveness, including the Education Dept.’s upcoming analysis of the President’s forgiveness authority and other analyses of such authority, potential legal sources of such authority, and how courts might respond to challenges to any Presidential action to forgive federal student loans. Ballard Spahr Senior Counsel Alan Kaplinsky hosts the conversation joined by Tom Burke, a partner in…

The Fed’s final rule implementing the Durbin Amendment (Regulation II) went into effect in October 2011.  Nearly ten years later, the final rule is still provoking controversy in the form of a new lawsuit and proposed amendments to the rule and its official commentary. The Durbin Amendment (Section 1075 of Dodd-Frank) authorized the Fed to issue regulations to ensure that the amount of any interchange fee received by a large debit card issuer (one with…

On April 27, 2021, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing titled, “The Consumer Protection and Recovery Act: Returning Money to Defrauded Consumers.”  This hearing was held five days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that § 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (the “Act”) does not authorize the FTC to seek, or a court to award, equitable monetary relief such as restitution or disgorgement.  Following the court’s decision, U.S. Representative…

Yesterday, by a vote of 52-47, the Senate passed the resolution introduced by Democratic Senators under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the OCC’s “true lender” final rule.  The rule addresses when a national bank or federal savings association should be considered the “true lender” in the context of a partnership with a third party.  Three Republican Senators voted in favor of the resolution: Cynthia Lummis, Marco Rubio, and Susan Collins. According to …

Yesterday, the FDIC announced a settlement with Umpqua Bank that involved collection practices connected with commercial equipment financing offered by the bank’s wholly-owned subsidiary.  The stipulated Order to Pay Civil Money Penalty requires the bank to pay a $1.8 million CMP. The practices that the FDIC found to violate Section 5 of the FTC Act consisted of: Charging various undisclosed collection fees to borrowers whose accounts were past due, such as collection call and letter fees…

Today, Michael Hsu began serving as the Acting Comptroller of the Currency.  This past Friday, the Treasury Department announced that Mr. Hsu had been designated Acting Comptroller by Secretary of the Treasury Yellen. Mr. Hsu replaces Blake Paulson, who served as Acting Comptroller of the Currency since January 14, 2021.  Mr. Paulson is returning to his role as the Senior Deputy Comptroller and OCC Chief Operating Officer. President Biden has not yet announced his nominee…