California Regulator Signals New Scrutiny Of Student Lending Industry, Enters Into Consent Order With Servicer Of Income Share Agreements

On August 5, California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that it entered into a consent order with a New York-based FinTech company that offers student Income Share Agreements (ISAs) to finance post-secondary education and training.  According to the DFPI, it is the first agreement to subject an ISA provider to state licensing and regulation.  The agreement reflects the DFPI’s decision to treat these private financing products as student loans for the purpose of the California […]

By | August 27th, 2021 ||

U.S. Federal Regulators Turn Up The Heat On Cryptocurrency Trading Platforms

With new types of digital assets and related business on the rise, federal authorities have been busy investigating.  Recently, the SEC, FinCEN and the CFTC have imposed some notable settlements involving cryptocurrency trading platforms for allegedly operating without appropriate approvals from financial regulatory authorities.  This may be the start of the next wave of government enforcement activities.  
BitMex
In FinCEN’s first enforcement action against a futures commission merchant, a high profile cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform […]

By | August 24th, 2021 ||

FRB Approves Large Bank Capital Requirements

The Federal Reserve Board (“FRB”) voted to approve “individual large bank capital requirements.” The capital requirements were determined after the completion of stress tests, “which provide a risk-sensitive and forward-looking assessment of capital needs.” As described in an FRB press release, the announced capital requirements are comprised of several components, including a (i) 4.5 percent minimum capital requirement for each bank, (ii) stress capital buffer of at least 2.5 percent, and (iii) capital surcharge of at least […]

By | August 20th, 2021 ||