On Wednesday, a California district court found that a business has a constitutional right to a jury trial when the state seeks to impose civil penalties for violations of California’s Business and Professions Code (Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”)) and Financial Code. Prior to the district court’s decision, it was well-known in California that there was [...]
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has signaled his continuing support for a new Ohio law that would promote industrywide cybersecurity protections for consumers. Senate Bill (SB) 220, the Data Protection Act, encourages businesses to voluntarily adopt cybersecurity controls and best practices to protect consumer data. The Data Protection Act provides businesses ten suggested cybersecurity frameworks [...]
Andrew M. Smith was appointed Wednesday, May 16, 2018 as Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Consumer Protection Unit. Smith was confirmed by a vote split along party lines, with the FTC’s three Republican commissioners voting in favor and the agency’s two Democratic commissioners voting in opposition. Director Smith will be leaving his position [...]
Speaking recently before the National Association of Attorneys General, Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Mick Mulvaney indicated that some big changes may be coming to the way the CFPB handles its enforcement responsibilities. Mulvaney revealed that the CFPB will be reorienting its focus toward its statutory mission of consumer education rather [...]
In a big win for New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, the Court of Appeals of New Mexico ruled that education services provider ITT Technical institute (ITT) must produce subpoenaed documents and cannot force the State to arbitrate alleged consumer protection violations. In State ex rel. Balderas v. ITT Educ. Services, the State of New [...]
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal has announced that Governor Phil Murphy will nominate Paul R. Rodriguez to serve as Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs. The Division is the lead state agency charged with protecting consumers’ rights, regulating the securities industry, and overseeing professional boards. Subject to the advice and [...]
The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed three Republicans and two democrats to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on April 26th. The recent departure of Commissioner Terrell McSweeny had left the FTC in an anemic state, with Acting Chairwoman Maureen Ohlhausen as the agency’s only active member. Now the FTC will be operating at full capacity for [...]
The clock continues to count down to May 25th, the day regulators will begin enforcing the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). Bringing substantially heightened requirements compared to the Data Protection Framework currently in place, this new set of rules is designed to give EU citizens more control of their personal data, and includes enhanced [...]
Over the past few months the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau), under the leadership of Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, issued a series of Requests for Information (RFI) from the public on ways to improve the effectiveness of the Bureau in meeting its statutory goals while also reducing the Bureau’s regulatory burden on the economy. The [...]
In what amounts to be the most aggressive move by regulators under the Trump administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) have joined ranks to lay a $1 billion fine in the lap of Wells Fargo. Although the fine is a joint effort by the two [...]
