Evan Weinberger

CFPB Payments to Synapse Victims Clouded by Questions Over Fund The Trump administration’s moves to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are raising questions about whether the agency can help fintech customers who lost access to their money when ban...

Meanwhile, the CFPB told a bankruptcy trustee that it would use its Civil Penalty Fund to compensate people who had money locked up following the failure of Synapse Financial Technologies, a VC-backed fintech middleman.

There may not be enough money to do so. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

Happy Thanksgiving from the CFPB!

I mean sure, why not.

CFPB Likely to Take Quicker Route in Revising Open Banking Rule The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is rushing to put out a revised open banking rule that would allow lenders to charge fintechs limited fees for customer data access, as it aims to finish the c...

The CFPB is rushing to get the open banking rule done before it runs out of money (it claims). And it's probably going to cut a bunch of corners to get it done.

Where are all the sticklers for administrative procedure now?

New from me: news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

We obviously recorded this before Trump found a nominee to lead the agency fulltime. But I spoke to a bunch of people about this who said "LOL, this person isn't getting a vote" before the CFPB basically said "LOL, this person isn't getting a vote."

So there's that.

Is this the End of the CFPB?

If you want to hear two smart people (Kate Berry and Rob Blackwell) and a goofball (me) talk about all of the stuff going on at the CFPB, take a listen to this.

open.spotify.com/episode/1hjH...

Took the boys to see "The Running Man" yesterday afternoon. It was a lot more fun than I expected. And I was super glad to see a kid younger than my nearly 12-year old in the theater.

FDIC Under Trump Will Shrink Workforce by More Than 1,300 Jobs A key federal banking regulator will have 1,330 fewer employees through buyouts, other departures, and electing not to fill vacancies, people familiar with the matter said.

The final accounting on FDIC job cuts is around 1,330 people, including buyouts and not filling vacancies. That's around 100 more than the agency was looking for.

The Biden administration had budgeted for around 6,500 full-time FDIC employees in 2025.

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

“These guys are just burning the whole building down,” Georgetown Law professor Adam Levitin said. “They don’t give a damn about what the consequences are.”

CFPB Funding Question Threatens to Upend New Deregulatory Agenda The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s argument that it’s running out of money and can’t request additional funding brings more chaos for banks, financial technology firms, and other companies ove...

Earlier in the week, the CFPB said it could run out of money because it can only get money when the Fed is profitable (a position even Texas AG Ken Paxton! disagrees with).

If that theory holds, everything the CFPB is doing now is probably illegal, too. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

This is too much Vassar even for me.

Trump’s CFPB Proposes Gutting Fair Lending Enforcement Standards The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing to weaken fair lending laws by eliminating efforts to combat unintentional bias and tightening standards for going after lenders that discourage c...

Don't sleep on just how broad this fair lending rule rewrite the Trump administration is proposing (out of the CFPB, which doesn't have money, apparently): news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

Despite its funding being still illegal (at least according to the White House), the CFPB is set to release a proposed a rewrite of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act: public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-19864.pdf

This is all very confusing to write. This ruling only applies to state-chartered banks, not federally chartered ones regulated by the OCC and protected by federal preemption.

Thanks, @jonathanjoshua.com.

Anyway, here's an update including a dissent. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

This applies in Pueblo and Littleton. Fort Collins and Aurora. Greeley, Grand Junction, and Durango.

And yes, I just looked up a list of Colorado municipalities because I only remembered three.

Anyway, the DIDMCA opt-out lives (at least in the 10th Circuit). Big win for consumer advocates, big loss (for now) for fintechs. We'll see if this gets to the Supreme Court. Interesting preemption issues here!

Colorado Beats Fintechs on Law Targeting ‘Rent-a-Bank’ Schemes Colorado won its bid to restore a law barring out-of-state banks from issuing loans that violate the state’s interest rate caps.

A federal appeals court says Colorado can block banks chartered in other states from issuing loans that violate Colorado interest rate caps to borrowers in Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, etc.

Sorry, that's all the Colorado municipalities I can remember.

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

Over the weekend I saw that there were still Kalshi live odds posted for the NYC mayor's election despite it being mercifully finished last week. Andrew Cuomo still had a 1% chance!

Normally I find those ads extremely annoying, but I hope some jamoke made a bet (er, bought a futures contract)

This excellent Reuters story mentioned an SEC investigation into financial products advertising at Meta. I didn't see anything about that in the quarterly filing.

Not for nothing, but Meta announced that the CFPB dropped an investigation into financial products advertising just last week! news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

I've grown to hate the phrase "use cases." Just say uses, people.

Meta Escapes CFPB Probe Into Financial Services Advertising Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms Inc. said it is no longer facing potential penalties from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over advertising for financial services on its platforms...

Not the biggest Meta story today, but the CFPB dropped an investigation into third-party financial services offerings on Facebook and Instagram.

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

Not longwinded. Really interesting!

Never miss your shot.

JPMorgan Data Fees Take Center Stage in Open Banking Battle Fees announced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to access its customers’ data, and its deal with data aggregator Plaid Inc., emerged as key flash points for banks and fintechs weighing in on the Consumer Finan...

Folks, I waded into the nearly 14,000 comments on the CFPB's open banking proposal (more like broad questions and ideas) so you don't have to. JPMorgan's data access fees were at center stage.
news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

Including one from Johnny Walker!

a man wearing a suit and tie is making a funny face ALT: a man wearing a suit and tie is making a funny face

We've now got more than 13,500 comment letters on the CFPB's open banking proposal, said the guy who has to read them.

Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time.

My wife doesn't think the Louvre jewel heist is as cool as I do.

I settled into a nap a few minutes into the movie, but was rudely awakened by the guy across the aisle who turned the flashlight on his phone on to distribute Sweetgreen salads to the people in his crew.

That was a new one.