U.S. Developments Regulatory Developments House Task Force Looks to Allow Alternative Data for Credit Scoring A newly formed U.S. House of Representatives task force, the Financial Technology Task Force, held a hearing this week to discuss a proposed bill that would allow new types of data to appear on consumer credit reports, including items like rent and phone payments. Proponents of the bill argue that in an era of more people renting, a large population…

FDIC Settles Payday Lending Lawsuit and Issues Summarizing Policy Statement On May 22, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) announced that it had resolved the litigation of Advance America et al. v. FDIC et al. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  In that case, the plaintiffs alleged that the FDIC and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency overstepped their regulatory authority in connection with a 2013 initiative by the…

CFPB Proposes Changes to Debt Collector Rules On May 7, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) detailed a plan to update the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The proposed rule would reduce the number of phone calls collectors can make to debtors, while providing clarity as to how collectors can use other communication methods, like email and text messages. The rule would limit the number of calls a collector can make to collect a…

U.S. Developments Regulatory Updates OCC Seeks Comments on Proposed Innovation Pilot Program The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) is soliciting public comment on its proposed Innovation Pilot Program. Similar to state-level regulatory sandbox models, the proposed program would allow OCC-supervised financial institutions, including those working with third-party vendors, to apply to test pilots of potential products and services and receive early regulatory input from the OCC. Eligible entities may propose a pilot…

FinTech Issues Discussed at SEC Speaks Conference At Practicing Law Institute’s annual SEC Speaks conference, SEC leadership and staff showcased the agency’s 2018 successes and outlined upcoming initiatives. Highlights in the cryptocurrency and FinTech industries included the SEC’s analytical framework for digital assets, published last week by the SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology (FinHub). The SEC also touted cooperation credit given in its recent action against Gladius Network, LLC, which was resolved…

U.S. Developments Regulatory Updates New Rules for Prepaid Cards, Digital Wallets, and P2P Transfer Apps Become Effective As reported in this blog last year, the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) created a final rule implementing the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (“Regulation E”) and the Truth in Lending Act (“Regulation Z”). Originally released in October 2016, with an effective date of October 1, 2017, the final rule was delayed several times and finally became…

Regulatory Fed Board Delays New Same Day ACH Processing Window Until March 2021 The effective date of the new same-day Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) processing window (which would expand the end-of-day deadline to originate same-day transactions by two hours to 4:45 p.m. ET (1:45 p.m. PT)) has been deferred by six months to March 19, 2021.  The Federal Reserve Board of Governors (the “Fed Board”) has informed the national administrator of the ACH network (the…