The American Financial Services Association (AFSA) thanks the Senate Banking Committee for advancing the nomination of Brian Johnson to serve as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and urges the full Senate to confirm him without delay. Mr. Johnson knows the Bureau and the consumer credit marketplace. As Deputy Director of the CFPB, he […]

Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI) has again introduced legislation to apply the Military Lending Act’s 36 percent rate cap to consumer credit nationwide. Given that it’s an election year and consumer prices and uncertainty about the economy are front and center, it’s not a surprise that an elected official would play the populist card.  What is […]

AFSA’s State Government Affairs team and the Card Coalition submitted a joint comment letter to the New York State Department of Financial Services urging revisions to its proposed Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) rule. The letter supports DFS’s consumer protection goals but warns that the proposal, as drafted, could sweep in traditional credit products, duplicate existing regulatory requirements, and […]

The Federal Reserve raised its short-term interest rate target by 25 basis points at the conclusion of its September 15-16 meeting. This marked the first increase since 2023 and brought the federal funds target range to between 3.75 and 4 percent. All 12 FOMC members voted in favor of the hike. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh […]

Ahead of this week’s House Financial Services Committee markup, AFSA sent a letter to Chairman French Hill (R-AR) and Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) expressing support for passage of several bills under consideration, including legislation reforming the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: R. 7866, American Lending Fairness Act (ALFA): sponsored by Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), this […]

September 17, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. ET GAP and loan overpayment refunds have become one of auto finance’s most scrutinized processes—and the responsibility has shifted. What was once handled by dealers now falls to lenders, putting refund accuracy, timing, and documentation directly in the spotlight for regulators and customers alike. In this session, leading corporate […]

AFSA’s State Government Affairs team submitted a comment letter to the Colorado Department of Law, Office of the Attorney General, in response to the SB 26-189 proposed rules implementing the Colorado Automated Decision-Making Technology Act, published August 11, 2026. Building on AFSA’s July comments, AFSA asks the Department to conform the rule’s Adverse Outcome examples to the statute’s own definitions, to […]

Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds continued to march higher in early September. Rates topped 4.9 percent as of September 10, the highest since 2023. Meanwhile, the 30-year Treasury yield climbed to a multi-decade high of 5.3 percent.  This has taken place even as monetary policymakers have held the line on changes to the short-term […]

On September 8 the IRS’ long-awaited regulations on the car loan interest deduction were published in the Federal Register. Since the enactment of legislation establishing this new tax deduction, AFSA has been front and center. In consultation with our vehicle finance company members, we collected questions and suggestions to share with the Treasury Department and the […]

AFSA’s State Government Affairs September white paper looks at the state legislative landscape on disparate impact liability in lending. As federal agencies pull back on disparate impact enforcement, states such as Illinois and New Jersey have moved to preserve or strengthen it, while similar efforts in Delaware stalled and New York reminded lenders that state fair lending law […]