CFPB: Final Prepaid Rule Coming in January ‘16 (May 26, 2015)
The CFPB’s final rule for prepaid financial products will come in January 2016, according to the agency’s latest rulemaking timetable.
Regulation
CFPB Updates Consumer Complaint Manual (May 26, 2015)
The CFPB this month updated its Company Portal Manual, which explains in detail the process when consumer complaints are submitted to the bureau as well as the procedures companies must follow if they wish to respond to a complaint.
MasterCard Issuers Reject Proposed Deal in Target Breach Case (May 26, 2015)
A settlement between MasterCard and Target stemming from the retail giant’s 2013 data breach has been scrapped after failing to earn approval by enough MasterCard-issuing banks.
Nasdaq unit says risk and data capabilities give FS firms a way to rebuild client trust
Financial services firms should get a grip on their risk management and make more use of the data available to them as part of a two-way process in gaining user trust and building new revenue streams.
Compliance and digital innovation needn’t be mutually exclusive
Regulatory compliance might be a fact of life for every financial institution, but it can be very challenging when competitive pressures come in to play. Software-based services are often now the primary means of contact between a company and its customers; IT is no longer a back-office support function
PayPal Enters into Consent Order with CFPB (May 19, 2015)
PayPal, reportedly, has agreed to a consent order with the CFPB that would require the company to refund $15 million to consumers who were affected by alleged practices that included, among others, enrollment without authorization and deceptive advertising for its PayPal Credit program, previously known as BillMeLater.
Viewpoint: One-Size-Fits-All Regulation of Prepaid Accounts Does More Harm than Good
The NBPCA supports the CFPB goal of protecting consumers, but the proposed rule doesn’t differentiate between prepaid products that serve different needs.
DOE Issues Proposed Rulemaking for Student Cards (May 18, 2015)
The proposed rule includes numerous provisions applying to checking and prepaid card accounts established by colleges or universities on behalf of students or parents for disbursing financial aid.
ISDA releases UTI derivatives trade reporting service
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has launched UTIPrefix.org, a service that enables counterparties to obtain a unique trade identifier (UTI) prefix for derivatives trade reporting.
Denmark Seeks to Eliminate Most Cash Transactions (May 13, 2015)
The Danish government wants to eliminate the obligation of accepting cash for certain retailers—expediting a move toward a cashless economy some government officials believe will reduce costs and increase productivity for affected businesses.
Senate Banking Head Mulling Fed Overhaul Bill (May 11, 2015)
The head of the Senate Banking Committee reportedly is readying a bill that would restructure the Federal Reserve and lead to fewer midsize banks being deemed “too big to fail.”
Industry bodies look to harmonise ISO 20022 real-time payment implementation
Global interoperability of real-time payments systems will require harmonisation of market practices and standards. A group of international clearing houses, banks, vendors, payments associations and other parties have proposed setting up an activity to look at how to deliver this under the aegis of the International Standards Organisation – and set an ambitious target of collating an initial variant of ISO 20022 usage guidelines for real-time payments before the summer.
EU Lawmakers Reach Informal PSD2 Agreement (May 7, 2015)
European lawmakers, following years of discussion, believe improved competition, more innovation and enhanced consumer protections in cross-border payments will be the result of an informal agreement on a revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) reached this week.
FinCEN: Virtual Currency Exchangers Must Comply with BSA, AML Rules (May 7, 2015)
Ripple Labs Inc. acted as a money services business and sold its virtual currency without registering with FinCEN.
Data integrity and post-crisis regulatory reform
The integrity of data in capital markets – be it, for example, price data, trade facts, collateral balances, or other key business information – has long been a fundamental concern of technologists and business stakeholders. But how do we define integrity?
Viewpoint: UDAAP Priorities and the CFPB’s Project Catalyst Initiative
Notes from a business law meeting with speakers from the CFPB, FTC and New York Department of Financial Services.
Morgan Drexen Lawsuit against CFPB Thrown Out (May 4, 2015)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently rejected a lawsuit by Morgan Drexen Inc., a provider of services to consumers through debt-relief lawyers, against the CFPB by a vote of 2-1.
Consumer Organizations Push PINs for EMV (May 4, 2015 )
In a letter sent to Congress and other federal agencies, an ad hoc group of four consumer and technology organizations called for broad action to require PINs—not signatures—for all U.S. EMV card transactions.
Apple Bumps Up Capitol Hill Lobbying Expenses (April 27, 2015)
Apple Inc. is spending more time on Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers on topics that include mobile payments, new lobbying expense data suggest. During the first three months of this year, Apple’s expenses for lobbying rose 16 percent compared with the same period a year ago.
OMG addresses data sovereignty issues in the cloud
The Object Management Group has formed a new working group to study issues of documenting and controlling data across distributed cloud environments, a big inhibitor of cloud for those with strict data sovereignty requirements such as banks and financial services firms.
House Bill Likely D.O.A. Because of Proposed Funding Cap on CFPB (April 23, 2015)
Spoiler alert: A bill approved yesterday by the U.S. House of Representatives basically will be dead on arrival as President Barack Obama has vowed to veto any legislation that tries to touch the purse strings of the CFPB.
CFPB Consumer Finance Research Conference May 7-8 (April 20, 2015)
The CFPB is holding a conference next month that it says will focus on high-quality consumer finance research, with academic and government experts presenting data.
Viewpoint: Canada’s Regulation of Mobile Payments: Merchant Protection at the Cost of Innovation?
Some of the most significant changes to Canada’s Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry affect the rights of merchants regarding mobile and contactless payments. Will the updated Code have the unintended consequence of disincenting investment in and adoption of innovative payment technologies in Canada?
Senate’s Tax Refund Fraud Bill Takes Aim at Prepaid (April 16, 2015)
Several U.S. senators used income tax season to promote new legislation that takes aim at program providers that enable consumers to receive their tax refunds on prepaid cards.
CounterpartyLink adds hierarchy profiles to legal identity service
CounterpartyLink, a provider of legal entity intelligence for buy- and sell-side institutions and law enforcement agencies, has announced CPL Hierarchy Profile, a new product designed to provide a single view of the client across complex client groups.
Beware of cyber-complacency warns ex-MI5 director
A former head of the UK Security Service better known as MI5 says banks need to beware the danger of state agencies and others stealing or destroying confidential information.
Canada’s Code of Conduct Expands to Include Mobile (April 15, 2015)
Canada’s Financial Consumer Agency this week has released amendments to Canada’s code of conduct for credit and debit card transactions that extend to mobile payments.
The treasurer: creating price tension on the derivatives front
A banking book requires a number of careful deliberations on the use of derivatives. In particular, the introduction of EMIR, Dodd-Frank and their brethren across the world has a number of important consequences for this market.
N.Y. AG’s Problematic Payroll Card Act Gets Sponsors from Both Sides of Aisle (April 8, 2015)
Both political parties again are backing problematic payroll card legislation from New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman that could squeeze margins and force some providers to pull programs from the state.
Federal Investigators Allegedly Get Greedy, Face Charges in Silk Road Case (April 6, 2015)
Two agents involved with the investigation of Silk Road, a Website that backed bitcoin transactions and was shut down by the FBI, face federal charges of money laundering and wire fraud, among other alleged crimes.
Petition: Exclude Bitcoin Startups, Supporting Companies from BitLicense Regs (April 2, 2015)
A coalition of bitcoin entrepreneurs and advocates are backing a petition that would exclude companies supporting the bitcoin infrastructure, as well as smaller startups, from the scope of New York’s BitLicense proposed regulations.
Sen. Menendez Indicted on Corruption Charges (April 2, 2015)
After several weeks of speculation, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) was indicted yesterday on federal corruption charges over allegations he accepted bribes from a donor in exchange for political favors.
An age of enlightenment: the future of conduct risk management
In the wake of the financial crisis, the industry has been hit hard by an almost continuous stream of conduct related issues and fines; including PPI, Libor, and more recently, Forex fixing. With high levels of media and political exposure, the industry has seen its reputation suffer
Fed Study: Mobile Banking, Deposit Use Growing Among Consumers (March 30, 2015)
More than half (51 percent) of mobile banking users in the U.S. had deposited a check using their mobile phones last year, up from 38 percent in 2013, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest study, “Consumers and Mobile Financial Services 2015.”
2015 Is U.K.’s ‘Year of Prepaid’ Says Group (March 25, 2015)
An industry group is calling 2015 the “year of the prepaid economy” in the U.K., as consumers there increasingly adopt prepaid cards for everyday spending, online shopping and transit.
Tanzania Works on Regulations to Combat E-Payments Fraud (March 25, 2015)
Tanzania is taking steps to tighten up electronic payments against fraud, with the government working to establish best practices, regulations and supervision of efficient, effective payment, clearing and settlement systems, according to Finance Minister Saada Mkuya Salum.
Buy-side lacks confidence in US and EU regulators as fear of HFT grows
Long-term investors are deeply concerned about their ability to find liquidity, with nearly 90% afraid that predatory high-frequency traders are preying on their flows, according to a new survey by block-trading network Liquidnet.
Payments Industry: CFPB’s ‘Onerous,’ ‘Complex,’ ‘Expansive’ Rule Needs Work (March 24, 2015)
The CFPB received nearly 5,800 comments on its proposed prepaid regulations before yesterday’s deadline.
New House Caucus Will Explore, Support Emerging Payments (March 24, 2015)
A quartet of congressmen has formed a group to explore and support emerging payment technologies.
CFPB Prepaid NPRM: 5,000+ Comments and Counting; NBPCA Comment Letter Urges Restraint, More Dialogue (March 23, 2015)
The NBPCA is calling on the CFPB to limit the scope of its proposed prepaid regulations to focus on primary transaction accounts and to, among other things, simplify disclosures rather than adding complexity for consumers.
