Following up on my July 22 post on FedNow: Mark Budnitz of Georgia State reminds me that one issue with FedNow that may create issues for consumers is its incorporation of UCC Article 4A’s wire transfer rules, even though Article 4A’s rules were not written for transactions involving consumers, and so lack safeguards that are […]
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Christine posted on Thursday about the risks of FedNow fraud. So you might wonder why, or even if, FedNow would be a positive for consumers. While FedNow obviously won’t be a positive for those who are scammed into using it to enrich fraudsters, it might be positive for consumers in a number of ways. For […]
The U.S. Congress is considering FY24 funding for the entire government, and normally it should involve just that, funding. Yet the U.S. House Appropriations Committee recently dropped its Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) bill, which includes proposals that would impact consumer protection policy. These riders take aim at the substantive work of a number […]
Here. According to Bloomberg,”Holyoak is currently solicitor general with the Utah Attorney General’s Office; Ferguson, a former aide to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, is Virginia’s solicitor general.” The FTC is currently operating with only three of its five commissioners, all Democrats. It is not permitted to have more than three commissioners from the same […]
A customer brought a consumer class action against Procter & Gamble over its use of the phrase “Nature Fusion,” along with a picture of an avocado, on certain products’ bottles, claiming it was an unfair and deceptive business practice and false advertising under California law, misleading consumers into thinking the product was natural. A Ninth […]
In March 2022, a FINRA panel found that Alpine, a securities broker-dealer, “converted and misused customer funds and securities, engaged in unauthorized trading, charged and paid customers unfair prices in securities transactions, charged customers unreasonable and discriminatory fees, and made an unauthorized capital withdrawal.” FINRA then found that Alpine violated its cease-and-desist order 35,000 times, […]
Read Amazon’s Pricing Paradox by Rory Van Loo and Nikita Aggarwal. Here’s the abstract: Amidst contentious debates about whether Amazon wields excess market power to harm competitors, one of the few things that most parties have agreed upon is that Amazon offers low prices. This Article challenges that assumption by demonstrating that Amazon charges higher prices […]
In a 94-page opinion issued after a lengthy bench trial, a Massachusetts District Judge has found the “Northeast Alliance” between American Airlines and JetBlue, by which the two airlines coordinated their flights out of New York and Boston, to violate the Sherman Act. An appeal is sure to follow. But the main takeaway from the […]
The Department of Transportation today announced it will be issuing an NPRM to require airlines provide compensation and reimbursement of expenses when passengers are affected by “controllable” cancellation or significant delays of their flights. DOT notes that practices among carriers currently varies, and airlines use different definitions of what constitutes “controllable” flight disruptions. DOT also […]
In 2020, Minnesota adopted the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act which, among other things, requires drug manufacturers to provide insulin for free to Minnesota residents who meet certain criteria. PhRMA sued in federal court, alleging the law constituted a Takings Clause violation, and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. The district court dismissed the suit on […]