On May 22, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced a settled enforcement action against Foot Locker, Inc. for using separation agreements that required departing employees to waive their right to receive SEC whistleblower awards, in violation of Exchange Act Rule 21F-17(a). The case is noteworthy not only for its specific facts, but also because
In this special crossover episode of Payments Pros and The Consumer Finance podcasts, Carlin McCrory, Keith Barnett, and Chris Willis explore the federal government’s increasing attention to “debanking” and what it means for payment processors, money transmitters, banks, and other financial services providers. They discuss recent federal initiatives and agency activity that have
In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, Chris Willis and Kim Phan unpack Colorado’s brand-new Automated Decision-Making Technology (ADMT) Act, which repeals and replaces the state’s much-criticized 2024 AI law. They explain the shift from “high-risk AI systems” to the broader ADMT framework, what it means for consequential decisions in lending and financial services,
James Stevens, partner and co-leader of Troutman Pepper Locke’s Financial Services Industry Group, was quoted in a recent S&P Global Market Intelligence article by Rica Dela Cruz, Lauren Seay, and Joe Mantone, “CAMELS overhaul could serve as a catalyst for US bank M&A.” The article discusses the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council’s proposed revisions to
To keep you informed of recent activities, below are several of the most significant federal events that have influenced the Consumer Financial Services industry over the past week.
In this episode of Moving the Metal: The Auto Finance Podcast, hosts Brooke Conkle and Chris Capurso are joined by partner Brian Casey to unpack Kentucky SB 158, a new law creating a comprehensive framework for vehicle financial protection products, including GAP waivers, excess wear and tear waivers, and vehicle value protection agreements. They explain
In a recent decision from the Eastern District of Virginia, the court dismissed Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) claims brought by a consumer who never received the vehicle he attempted to purchase with an auto loan. Despite acknowledging the underlying fraud in the transaction, the court held that the dispute over whether the consumer still
On May 21, a panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard argument in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services on whether text messages are covered as “telephone calls” in § 227(c)(5) of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). While questions asked by judges during oral arguments are no guarantee of how the court will
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is reportedly moving to give community banks more time between examinations under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), the federal anti-redlining statute that shapes how banks serve low- and moderate-income communities. As reported by Bloomberg Law, based on a May 15 supervisory memorandum obtained by the
On May 20, the Federal Reserve Board issued a proposal (following a December 2025 Request for Information) to create a new, special-purpose “payment account” that eligible financial institutions could use solely to clear and settle payments. At the same time, the Board signaled that Federal Reserve Banks should temporarily pause decisions on certain master account