This week, the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology advanced the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-OR) . The bill is intended to prevent unwanted robocalls, but could be problematic for legitimate businesses. The bill could be marked up in the full committee as early as July.

More than 50 leaders of the American Financial Services Association’s (AFSA) Vehicle Finance Division and the National Automobile Dealer Association’s (NADA) met this week in Washington, DC, to discuss opportunities and challenges for the U.S. automotive retail channel.

AFSA will submit a response and continues meeting with the FCC staff and other federal agencies to ensure that consumers can receive essential calls without delay.

AFSA has offered its support for H.R. 3182, legislation introduced by Representatives Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX), Ted Budd (R-NC) and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, to delay the implementation of the Federal Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) standard until the Security and Exchange Commission conducts a quantitative impact study. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced a companion bill in the Senate in May. The CECL standard would significantly change accounting practices by requiring financial institutions to recognize and reserve for expected credit losses over the life of the loan.

On June 20, AFSA submitted a comment letter to the New York legislature raising concerns about AB 2078 and its companion SB 4019, which would remove liability for the early termination of a lease in the event of a lessee’s death. The bills are on the calendar for consideration on the Assembly floor on the final day of the session before the legislature recesses for the year.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is holding its fourth annual PrivacyCon on June 27, 2019.

Join us on June 27th at 2 p.m. ET for SMS for e-Signature and Electronic Documents presented by D’Lange Mobile.

AFSA attended and participated in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Consumer Advisory Board meetings held June 5th and 6th in Washington. The focus of the meeting was on broad policy matters related to the Bureau’s Unified Regulatory Agenda and general scope of authority. Sessions included information exchange on trends I the consumer reporting marketplace and discussion of the 2018 Consumer Response Annual Report, among many other topics.

Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) yesterday announced that proposed rules governing robocalls would likely contain a “safety valve” in order to ensure that legitimate businesses like financial services companies can still reach consumers. The Commission passed the proposed rule this afternoon.