Consumer Finance Impact of a CFPB Run Amok

Switching from his usual role as frequent host of the Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast, Alan Kaplinsky, Senior Counsel in and former Practice Group Leader of Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Financial Services Group, was recently the special guest of Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Elliott Stein and Nathan Dean on their podcast, Votes and Verdicts. The episode begins with a discussion of (1) the CFPB’s impact on consumer financial services providers, (2) how, since the CFPB’s creation in 2010, its three Directors have used the CFPB’s supervisory, enforcement, and regulatory authorities, and (3) the differences in the three Directors’ approaches. This is followed by a discussion of the case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court involving a challenge to the constitutionality of the CFPB’s funding mechanism in which Alan shares his reactions to the oral argument in the Supreme Court and discusses potential remedies if the Court rules that the CFPB’s funding is unconstitutional. The episode concludes with a discussion of how the case has impacted ongoing CFPB activity, the potential impact of a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the CFPB on future CFPB activity, and potential future challenges the CFPB may face from industry.