Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleagues Deborah Kovsky and Tom Tilton as they discuss new pending legislation — the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act — as well as the general, overall legislative and financial services outlook in the next Congress.Finance and Restructuring Partner Deb Kovsky represents secured and unsecured creditors and other key stakeholders in bankruptcy cases, out-of-court workouts, and distressed M&A transactions. Deb regularly advises consumer finance clients on bankruptcy and insolvency matters. Deb also uses her experience to lecture on bankruptcy topics to national and regional organizations.Troutman Pepper Strategies Director Tom Tilton leads the firm’s governmental relations and issue management arm in the development of strategy, outreach, and client initiative advocacy before Congress and federal agencies. He has over a decade of policy and legislative experience through his work on and off of Capitol Hill, including serving as a congressional staffer.

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleagues Privacy + Cyber Associate Sadia Mirza and Privacy + Cyber Partner Kamran Salour as they discuss phishing. Kamran and Sadia break down what phishing is, the major security risk it poses for companies, and how to handle a phishing attack.Sadia Mirza has extensive experience in data security and privacy matters. When counseling clients on cutting-edge privacy and cybersecurity issues, they especially turn to Sadia for pre-incident response planning and preparedness or at the first signs of a security incident. She has handled several data breaches and investigations in a variety of industries and has experience defending companies under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, attorneys general offices, and other regulatory authorities.Kamran Salour focuses his practice on helping clients through their toughest cybersecurity and privacy issues with his extensive data security experience. Clients look to Kamran for advice on proactive data security practices, pre-incident planning, and complying with data protection laws. He uses his decades of experience as a litigator to provide clients with a unique perspective on data security and protection issues.Together Kamran and Sadia host our cybersecurity podcast, Unauthorized Access.

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleagues Jeremy Rosenblum and Tony Kaye as they discuss the phenomenon of mass arbitrations, which pose increasing risk to the consumer finance industry. The partners use their knowledge to explain what mass arbitration is and describe prophylactic measures companies should take. Jeremy is a partner in the Consumer Financial Services Practice Group, with nearly four decades of experience representing the financial services industry. He focuses his practice on federal and state lending and consumer practice laws. Tony is also a partner in the Consumer Financial Services Practice Group. He counsels financial services providers on compliance issues and has significant experience defending clients in individual and class action lawsuits filed by consumers. 

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his guest and colleague Tony Kaye as they discuss the recently enacted California Senate Bill 1311 or Military and Veteran Consumer Protection Act of 2022. Effective January 1, 2023, the new bill — drawn up by the California attorney general’s office — intends to enhance consumer protections for military service members, directly affecting the Military Lending Act’s exception for loans to purchase motor vehicles and other personal property.Consumer Financial Services Partner Tony Kaye brings a broad knowledge in military lending laws. He regularly advises financial services providers on compliance issues, while also guiding financial institutions to successfully navigate CFPB investigations and a variety of other government investigations, examinations, and enforcement actions.

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleagues Stefanie Jackman and Chris Carlson as they discuss the recent action by the Massachusetts attorney general (AG) involving automobile dealer pricing discrimination. After a Massachusetts-based automobile dealer allegedly engaged in discriminatory pricing toward Black and Hispanic automobile customers via additional charges for "add-on" products, the AG's office acted. Listen as Chris, Stefanie, and Chris dive deeper into the case and what it could mean for automobile dealers in the future.Consumer Financial Services Partner Stefanie Jackman devotes her practice to assisting financial services institutions facing state and federal government investigations and examinations, with a significant portion in providing compliance-related advice. She represents a broad range of clients across the financial services industry, including auto lenders.As a member of the firm's RISE group, Associate Chris Carlson draws on his government background to counsel clients, bringing considerable experience in state AG investigations. His representation spans a wide variety of state and federal regulatory matters, regularly advising clients interacting with and being investigated by state AGs.

Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Chris Willis and his guest and colleague Brooke Conkle as they discuss the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) recent consent order with Passport Auto Group. The FTC alleged Passport violated the law in three areas: Passport had a practice of marking up fees from the advertised price; Passport had a discretionary markup practice that caused Black and Latino customers to pay higher fees; and it charged Black and Latino customers additional fees for markups for extra services. The consent order requires Passport to pay $3.38 million, with the FTC redistributing the money to affected customers. Chris and Brooke further discuss the FTC’s proposed rule relating to disclosure of fees and how this affects auto dealerships.Associate Brooke Conkle focuses her practice on complex litigation and federal consumer protection statutes, including the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Regulation V, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and UDAP laws.

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleague and fellow Partner Jordi de Llano as they discuss recent developments in anti-money laundering. In this episode, the attorneys examine FinCen's September 2022 final rule, which implements guidance on new beneficial ownership information reporting requirements of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), as well as take a deeper dive into recent developments and what it means for different entities.Jordi de Llano formerly served as assistant U.S. attorney and deputy chief of the Securities, Financial, and Cyber Fraud Unit in the U.S. attorney's office in Boston. He also previously ran the Financial Crimes/Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) Review Task Force at the U.S. attorney's office in Lexington, KY. In that role, Jordi oversaw all investigations involving SARs, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) violations, and money laundering. He also served as the primary liaison for the U.S. attorney's office with local financial institutions regarding BSA compliance issues. With nearly a decade of experience as a seasoned federal prosecutor managing complex financial investigations, Jordi now focuses on representing corporate and individual clients facing criminal cases and government investigations.

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleague Partner Misha Tseytlin to discuss the Fifth Circuit's decision in Community Financial Services Association of America, Ltd. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, what may happen next and when, and the ruling's practical impact on the consumer finance industry. As noted in our October 20 blog about the CFSA case, a Fifth Circuit panel found the funding mechanism for the CFPB to be unconstitutional.Misha leads the firm's national Appellate + Supreme Court Practice Group. He is an appellate attorney who handles his clients' most important cases and achieves optimal outcomes by drawing on an accomplished track record before the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeal, and state courts.

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleagues and fellow Partners Mary Zinsner and Susan Flint as they discuss the current landscape of wire fraud scams in the financial services industry. Topics include:Wire fraud scams, such as Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud, and the potential liability of banks;How banks should analyze wire fraud claims in the pre-litigation stage;How courts are ruling on the issues;Responsibilities of nonbank parties to the wire; andTips for bank in-house counsel in handling wire fraud transfer situations.Mary Zinsner focuses her practice on litigation and strategy in lender liability, check and bank operation, class action, consumer finance, fiduciary matters, and creditor's rights disputes. While Mary litigates extensively in the federal and state trial and appellate courts in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, as well as in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, she represents banking clients in cases of all sizes nationwide.Susan Flint has more than 25 years of experience leading teams responsible for litigation and regulatory enforcement matters. Susan specializes in issues arising in the financial services industry and has experience representing and providing general and specific legal advice and support for high-risk litigation and regulatory issues, bringing favorable results to the client. She has extensive experience defending banking clients in multiple areas, including retail and small business banking, complex commercial litigation, third-party vendor issues, and third-party legal process issues.

Please join Consumer Financial Services Partner Chris Willis and his colleagues Ron Raether and Kim Phan, partners in our Privacy + Cyber Practice Group, as they discuss recent privacy and data security updates in the consumer financial services industry. Topics include:The CFPB's and FTC's regulatory stance on privacy and data security issues;The current landscape of privacy legislation; andEmerging trends in privacy and data security litigation, including the status of litigation under the California Consumer Privacy Act, and how businesses can protect themselves going forward.Ron Raether has helped companies navigate federal and state privacy laws for over 20 years. He has effectively defended hundreds of privacy and data security putative class actions. Ron's experience is unique in the number of privacy cases litigated through class and substantive issue motions, including defending those successes in the appellate courts.Kim Phan counsels financial institutions in complying with federal and state privacy and data security statutes and regulations. She also guides clients on regulatory compliance matters, including supervisory and enforcement interactions with the CFPB, the FTC, and state attorneys general and departments of consumer protection.