On April 17, 2018, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Terrell McSweeny and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Mignon Clyburn announced they would be resigning. McSweeny’s departure leaves the FTC with a single Republican member, while Clyburn’s leaves the FCC with a 3-1 Republican majority. McSweeny first joined the FTC in 2014, after serving as Chief [...]
The Federal Trade Commission recently issued its annual summary of consumer complaints from the past year, joining with attorneys general from states across the country whose reports have already been released. Taken together, these reports provide a reliable prediction of where regulators will be focusing their attention in the coming months. The following high-complaint areas [...]
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s groundbreaking Bristol-Myers decision holding that courts are unable to assert specific jurisdiction over nonresidents’ claims, courts across the nation disagree over its application. At issue: Does Bristol-Myers apply to class action lawsuits in addition to individual claimants? Earlier this month, the District Court for the Eastern District of Illinois joined [...]
Advertiser Marketing Architects, Inc. (MAI) has agreed to pay $2 million to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to settle claims that MAI created and disseminated deceptive radio ads for products marketed by its client, Direct Alternatives. The FTC’s joint complaint with the Maine Attorney General’s Office states that MAI used false or unsubstantiated claims to [...]
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) continues to see big changes under the leadership of Acting Director Mick Mulvaney and is now opening itself up to public comment. Mulvaney, a Trump appointee, has sought to reorient the CFPB’s enforcement priorities towards a less punitive and more even-handed application by opening a dialogue with businesses to [...]
In a leaked email to staff on Tuesday, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Acting Director Mick Mulvaney declared that the old days of “pushing the envelope” are no more and the Bureau will realign its mission to act with “humility and prudence.” Since the Bureau’s creation, financial service providers, members of Congress, and other political [...]
Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Mick Mulvaney continues to rapidly reshape the CFPB in a stark break from the practices of former Director Richard Cordray, who resigned in late November to run for Ohio Governor. On Tuesday, the Bureau announced its intention to reexamine its “Payday Rule” imposing a suite of [...]
Richard Cordray’s November resignation as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – and the ensuing battle for acting directorship between President Trump appointee Mick Mulvaney and CFPB Deputy Director Leandra English – has created turmoil but opened a new avenue for cases currently on the agency’s docket. The situation has garnered intense interest [...]
As 2017 comes to a close, the FCC’s repeal of “net neutrality” regulations grabbed the headlines for several weeks. At a high level, through its Restoring Internet Freedom Order, the FCC repealed Obama-era regulations prohibiting internet service providers (“ISPs”) from selectively prioritizing certain types of internet traffic to consumers by classifying them as Title II [...]
‘Tis the season for giving, and charitable organizations continue to find themselves on the receiving end of growing scrutiny from state attorneys general. Ohio is the most recent state whose attorney general has sued a nonprofit charitable organization. Attorney General Mike DeWine sued Cops for Kids, its organizers Thomas Duffy and Charles Hitzel, and for-profit [...]
