Tobacco companies to begin “corrective” advertising

The major tobacco companies will soon "launch a court-ordered national advertising campaign to end a massive fraud and racketeering case that the federal government brought against the industry nearly two decades ago. The campaign will run on TV, in newspapers, online and on cigarette packaging," the online news outlet FairWarning reports. The ads will be […]

Politico: What’s next for the CFPB’s work on higher education issues

An article in Politico reviews the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s work on a range of on a wide range of issues relating to student loans and for-profit colleges, and discusses how the Trump Administration might undo that work. Read "What's next for the CFPB's work on higher education issues" here.

How the OCC Is Back to Protecting Banks Rather Than Consumers

Here, in the Times, by Ben Protess and Jessica Silver-Greenberg. Excerpt: After the financial crisis in 2008, the Obama administration turned one of the banking industry’s friendliest regulators into one of its toughest. But that agency is now starting to look like its old self — and becoming a vital player in the Trump administration’s […]

Chris Peterson Study Finds Financial Choice Act Would Eliminate Chilling Number of CFPB Enforcement Actions Costing Consumers Billions

Christopher Lewis Peterson of Utah has written Choosing Corporations Over Consumers: The Financial Choice Act of 2017 and the CFPB Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report (forthcoming). Here is the abstract: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is the U.S. Government’s primary regulator and civil law enforcement agency governing consumer lending, payment systems, debt collection, and other […]

Senate Confirms Former Banker Otting to Be Comptroller of the Currency,

The Hill has a story here. Excerpt: Otting was the president and CEO of OneWest Bank, where he worked with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and a vice chairman at U.S. Bancorp before that. He presided over hundreds of thousands of foreclosures at OneWest Bank, which has been investigated for multiple federal and state housing violations. * […]

Trump considers vocal CFPB opponent as interim head of CFPB

Bloomberg reports: Mick Mulvaney once called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “a sad, sick joke.” Now, he may get to oversee Elizabeth Warren’s favorite regulator. Mulvaney, President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget director, is being considered for a temporary role as interim director of the consumer watchdog after Richard Cordray steps down later […]

Seventh Circuit decision on American Pipe tolling

The Seventh Circuit today decided Collins v. Village of Palatine about when class-action tolling under the American Pipe doctrine stops. Here's the court's answer:  When a plaintiff files a complaint on behalf of a proposed class, the statute of limitations for the claim is tolled for each member of the class. Am. Pipe & Constr. Co. v. […]

Who Will Trump Nominate to Head the CFPB?

by Jeff Sovern Several names have surfaced. Both the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal have mentioned the possibility of George Mason Law professor Todd Zywicki.  The American Banker has a slide show of potential directors here (free content). I fear the nominee will be someone who believes that consumer protection largely consists of […]