- Top Lines
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published an issue spotlight on the CFPB’s oversight of student loan servicing practices in the early months of the resumption of federal student loan repayments after over three years of a payment pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Borrowers are encountering long hold times when trying to reach their student loan servicer, experiencing significant delays in application processing times for income-driven repayment plans, and receiving inaccurate billing statements and disclosures.
In a statement, Director Rohit Chopra said, “The report shows that there is significant variation between servicers in their ability to manage these demands. During the payment pause, many servicers made a business decision to cut costs and significantly curtail their capacity. However, loan servicers must adhere to existing law. In certain cases, the CFPB has notified servicers that they may be in violation of federal consumer financial protection law.”
- End of Week Wrap Up
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued its list of state nonmember banks recently evaluated for compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The list covers evaluation ratings that the FDIC assigned to institutions in October 2023.
Seth Frotman, CFPB General Counsel and Senior Advisor to the Director, published a blog post on holding debt collectors responsible for false statements. The blog post discusses the CFPB’s recent amicus brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit regarding holding debt collectors responsible when they make false representations.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Office of Technology announced that it is hosting a virtual tech summit on January 25, 2024 that will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders to discuss key developments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), looking across the layers of technology related to AI.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda was sworn in for his second term as a Commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 28, 2023. Commissioner Uyeda began his first term as an SEC Commissioner on June 30, 2022, after being nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for a term expiring in 2023. In June 2023, President Biden nominated Commissioner Uyeda for a term expiring in 2028, and the U.S. Senate confirmed Commissioner Uyeda on Dec. 20, 2023.
Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) released a statement announcing his decision to retire at the end of 2024. Rep. Luetkemeyer has represented the 3rd Congressional District of Missouri since 2009. He serves on the House Financial Services Committee as chairman of the Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions, on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, and on the House Small Business Committee.
- ICYMI
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury) Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) began accepting beneficial ownership information reports. The bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act, enacted in 2021 to curb illicit finance, requires many companies doing business in the United States to report information about the individuals who ultimately own or control them. Reporting companies created or registered to do business in the United States before January 1, 2024 must file by January 1, 2025. Reporting companies created or registered to do business in the United States in 2024 have 90 calendar days to file after receiving actual or public notice that their company’s creation or registration is effective.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) issued a statement saying that “while the rule is a step in the right direction, it remains a significant deviation from what Congress intended.”
Need to catch up on what happened earlier this week? Check out our January 3rd Midweek Update here.