AFSA's July State Government Affairs white paper is now available. This month's white paper covers 2019 consumer complaint data from state Attorney General offices, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Consumer complaints inform the cases state attorneys general pursue and may drive the legislation an AG's office advocates for. Understanding emerging trends in complaints can help institutions anticipate, respond to, and potentially avoid problems with consumers, attorneys general, and lawmakers. The paper is available to AFSA members under the State Resources section of AFSA’s website.

July's featured Business Partner is RSM US LLP.

The American Financial Services Association (AFSA) reiterated its support for industrial banks in a comment letter this week to the FDIC. The FDIC’s proposed industrial bank rule would require certain conditions and commitments for financial institutions seeking an industrial bank charter.

The Supreme Court today ruled in Selia Law v. CFPB that the structure of the CFPB violates the separation of powers. In an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court held that, “the CFPB Director’s removal protection is severable from the other statutory provisions bearing on the CFPB’s authority.”

In this episode of the AFSA Extra Credit Podcast we talk with Mike Kaplan, CRO with PayNearMe. In mid-May, PNM unveiled a study entitled Consumer Bill Pay Trends During COVID-19. PayNearMe analyzed hundreds of thousands of bill payments made by U.S. consumers between March 1 and April 17 to explore the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having and may have over the long term. The insights are very interesting and some, surprising.

Join us on June 30 at 1:00 p.m. ET for Identity and Income Fraud in an Increasingly Digitized World, presented by AFSA.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued two notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) to amend the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage (ATR-QM) Rule. The first NPRM would extend the sunset date for a temporary category of qualified mortgages sometimes referred to as the temporary Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) qualified mortgage category or as the GSE Patch.

This week, AFSA submitted a comment letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in response to the agency’s request for comment regarding its guidance on advertising, referred to as the Endorsement Guides.

Join us on June 25 at 2:00 p.m. ET for Class Action Threats Facing the Consumer Finance Industry in the Age of COVID.

The American Financial Services Association (AFSA) today (June 18) joined several other trade associations that represent a wide swath of the American economy in a letter to Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE) supporting her bill (S. 3990) that would transform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) leadership structure. The bill would replace the existing single director with a five-member, bipartisan commission. “The financial services marketplace thrives in a stable regulatory environment,” the signatories wrote. “When regulatory stability is eroded by changing political dynamics, the consumer suffers from financial institutions’ inability to rely upon a consistent regulatory environment.” AFSA has long sought a commission structure at the Bureau to bring fair and consistent oversight of the financial services industry, in the same manner as other federal regulatory bodies operate. “Members from both parties have long supported legislation to replace the single director model with a commission,” the letter continued. “In fact, bipartisan legislation establishing a CFPB commission has passed the House Financial Services Committee six times and passed the U.S. House of Representatives four times, with Democrats and Republicans voting in favor.”