Christopher Friedman

This is what the CFPB's website looks like when you go to look up the SoLo Funds enforcement action and its accompanying press release:

www.consumerfinance.gov/enforcement/...

CFPB Agrees to Pause Rumored Workforce Layoffs, Data Purge (1) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees got at least a two-week reprieve from an expected culling of the workforce after their union and the agency agreed to let a federal judge rule on the mer...

Here's my complete story on the delay in firing 95% of CFPB staff and deleting all its data. It's unlocked! news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

ICYMI: the FTA just moved to intervene in the 1033 lawsuit filed in a Kentucky district court. The group seeks to defend the "open banking rule" in the event that the CFPB elects not to. Notably, the CFPB hasn't requested a stay here as it has with other cases.

www.bloomberglaw.com/bloomberglaw...

CFPB Fires 70 Enforcement Lawyers, Other Probationary Employees The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau terminated around 70 probationary employees, including several enforcement division attorneys who were still in their probationary periods.

Here's the absolute latest from the CFPB: Around 70 probationary employees were terminated in a very slipshod manner.

The letters didn't have peoples' names. Didn't have their start dates or positions or even the effective date of their termination.

news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

The 5th Circuit’s stay applies to the plaintiffs before the court. For other covered financial institutions, the current deadlines stand unless the Bureau acts.

Fifth Circuit halts CFPB small business data rule  — again A federal appeals court in Texas has delayed the implementation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small business data reporting rule slated to go into effect in July. How the Trump adminis...

I spoke today with the Am. Banker about the 5th Cir.’s limited stay of the 1071 compliance dates, as well as efforts to effectuate a broader stay of the rule. Bottom line: an email or other informal indication is likely insufficient to toll the deadline.

www.americanbanker.com/news/fifth-c...

Paoletta sent an email to CFPB enforcement staff stating that Vought is "implementing new enforcement priorities." Enforcement staff were ordered to make no further contact with parties in litigation.

Failure to abide by his instructions "constitutes insubordination" and risks termination.

Story coming, but Russ Vought sent an email to CFPB employees instructing them not to do any agency work while the CFPB DC office is shut this week.

Also, it appears that OMB General Counsel Mark Paoletta is serving as the CFPB's chief legal officer. He's got a CFPB email and everything.

I feel attacked

Roll tide

Eagles need to find themselves a pop star by the 3rd quarter or this is over

Such a bad call

Mick Mulvaney did this same thing in 2018. His justification was that the CFPB had enough money to operate. He subsequently asked for a lot more money.

6-TRO

Here is Judge Paul Engelmayer’s remarkable TRO barring (in effect) DOGE from accessing Treasury’s payment system & ordering (in effect) any DOGE person who has had access to destroy anything already copied. A short thread ...
www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

This is a good read. And it touches on one of my bigger concerns: a pullback in federal regulatory supervision and enforcement could spur a reaction at the state level, and I don’t think the industry or consumers win in a patchwork regulatory environment.

And watch the Trade Uncertainty Index shoot near 20-year highs. Legal chaos generally NOT a driver of domestic business investment.

Project 2025 Architect Vought Takes Over as Acting CFPB Chief Russell Vought, newly confirmed as the Office of Management and Budget director, is now serving as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s acting head.

There's another new sheriff at the CFPB, and this one helped write Project 2025. (h/t to the WSJ) news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

Breaking:
 
NEW YORK (AP) - Democratic attorneys general sue to stop DOGE from accessing the Treasury Department's central payment system.

Musk tweets “CFPB RIP.” He’s previously tweeted “delete” CFPB in the past.

Asked some folks at the agency if anything had changed since our report this morning that DOGE was there. Nada.

BREAKING: Judge NICHOLS says he will be entering a "very limited" restraining order aimed at protecting the 2,700 USAID employees being placed on leave and those being hurriedly relocated.

Fifth Circuit Stays 1071 Rule: A Victory, but Not for Everyone The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a stay in the case challenging the CFPB's Small Business Lending Rule, also known as Dodd-Frank Section 1071. This rule, stemming from the Dodd-Frank Act...

Here’s our latest @huschblackwell.bsky.social alert re. the 1071 partial stay. Bottom line: if you are a covered financial institution not represented in this specific case, this stay does not apply to you. So continue your compliance preparations for now

www.huschblackwell.com/newsandinsig...

Banks Reassess Community Lending Risk After Trump Funding Freeze President Donald Trump’s mandate to pause all federal loans and grants, albeit short-lived, is raising questions about US banks’ ongoing support for nonprofit community groups.

Cutting off federal funding to nonprofits would be “a huge economic hit one way or another with ripple effects that won’t stop at the nonprofits,” a banker told us. A new one by Yizhu Wang and me for @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Musk's DOGE Descends on CFPB With Eyes on Shutting It Down (1) Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has embedded itself inside the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the first step toward dismantling the agency.

Updated the story about DOGE descending on the CFPB with a few more details, including just what types of data the agency stores. It's a lot!

Right now, the DOGE team isn't asking for banks' confidential information, but it's there. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

NEW: Last week’s funding freeze didn’t just hit nonprofits, it caused waves among for-profit banks, which are a lot more tied into the world of federal funding than you might think. Their real estate loans, revolving credit lines & community development work could be upended if this happens again.

Notably, the court left the door open to potentially modifying its order, so we’re closely monitoring for any developments or new intervenors who may request a broader, nationwide stay. Stay tuned for updates. (4/4)

This means that while many banks and credit unions may benefit from the stay, non-depository financial institutions—such as alternative commercial finance companies and fintechs—are still required to comply with the 1071 deadlines. (3/4)

However, this stay applies only to the plaintiffs, intervenors, and those represented by their respective trade associations. For all other covered entities, the 1071 compliance deadlines remain in effect.(2/4)

Breaking News on Commercial Finance and Dodd-Frank 1071:

Today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the plaintiffs' motion to stay the effective date of Section 1071. (1/4)