By: Jeremy McLaughlin, Greg Blase, Andrew Glass, and Josh Durham
The Supreme Court issued two decisions at the end of its term that will significantly alter how federal courts review challenges to federal regulations. The decisions could have a significant impact on the highly regulated payments industry.
Read MoreBy: Andrew C. Glass, Gregory N. Blase, and Joshua L. Durham
On June 11, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to ban the inclusion of medical bills in consumer credit reports.
Read MoreBy: John ReVeal and Jennifer Crowder
On May 21, the South Carolina Governor signed a Bill to enact the Earned Wage Access Services Act (the Act), joining Kansas, Missouri, Nevada and Wisconsin as the fifth state to codify earned wage access (EWA) services. Many other states are considering such legislation, while a few others have so far relied on regulatory opinions or guidance.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin and Chelsie Rimel
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released a new report spotlighting common consumer complaints for credit card rewards programs. The Bureau and its Director, Rohit Chopra, have been focused on payments oversight, including by proposing a rule last Fall that would apply to nonbank entities that provide digital wallets. The new report discusses the relationship between consumers and the providers of reward programs, and it stresses the need for fairness and transparency.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin and Joshua Durham
Based on a new statement of policy (“Statement”) issued on 20 April 2024 by Pennsylvania’s Department of Banking and Securities (“Department”), effective 15 October 2024, the Department will include virtual currency in the definition of “money” for purposes of the state’s money transmission law (“Law”). Previously, in January 2019, the Department had issued guidance concluding the opposite, that only fiat currency constituted “money” under the Law. The Department’s about-face follows other state regulators that have increasingly concluded that virtual currency is regulated under their state money transmission laws.
Read MoreBy: Jeremy McLaughlin and Josh Durham
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) is requesting comments on potential rules it will promulgate to implement the state’s recently-enacted Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL), which establishes a formal licensing regime for digital asset service providers. Please review our client alert for a detailed analysis of the new law, which takes effect 1 July 2025.
Read MoreBy Cliff Histed, Cheryl Isaac, Eden Rohrer, and Josh Durham
On 12 October, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a complaint against Stephen Ehrlich, the former CEO of the now-defunct cryptocurrency platform, Voyager Digital (Voyager), in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. In its 55-page complaint, the CFTC asserts both fraud and registration failures by Ehrlich in connection with the Voyager platform and Voyager’s operation of an unregistered commodity pool.
Read MoreBy John ReVeal and Jeremy McLaughlin
Earned Wage Access (or EWA) programs are popular programs that allow employees to access their salary or wages that have already been earned, prior to the scheduled payroll date. Many argue that these beneficial programs are not truly “loans” because employees are accessing their own money without paying the high fees charged by payday lenders. However, some state regulators disagree, making EWA programs more difficult to access, depending on what state in which the employee lives.
Read MoreBy Adam Husik and John ReVeal
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued guidance on how the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act (the “INFORM Consumers Act” or “Act”) may impact online sellers who offer consumer products through online marketplaces.
The Act, as described in our prior blog post, is aimed at addressing consumer complaints about online purchases of stolen, counterfeit, or defective products. As of the Act’s 27 June 2023 effective date, online marketplaces are now generally required to obtain, verify, and disclose certain financial and business information about high-volume sellers on their platforms.
Read MoreBy Drew Hinkes, Eden Rohrer, and Josh Durham
On 28 August 2023, in its first enforcement action for securities registration violations brought against an issuer of NFTs, the SEC settled with media and entertainment company, Impact Theory, LLC (Impact).
The settlement order included findings that from 13 October 2021 to 6 December 2021, Impact sold non-fungible tokens called Founder’s Keys (KeyNFTs) raising approximately US$30 million. Broadly interpreting Howey, the SEC found that the NFTs were sold in investment contracts, based on the company’s public statements about the expected rise in value of the NFTs and its use of profits from sales to develop the company.
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