New Directions for Consumer Finance Law. An Insider’s Look at the Report of the CFPB’s Taskforce

On January 5, 2021, the CFPB Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law chaired by George Mason University Scalia Law School (GMU Law) Professor Todd J. Zywicki issued a comprehensive report on U.S. consumer finance law tethered to five guiding principles: consumer protection, information and inclusion, competition and innovation, regulatory modernization and flexibility, and inclusion and access.

CCFL President James M. Milano and GMU Law Professor Thomas P. Vartanian will interview three members of the Taskforce:

• Professor Todd J. Zywicki

• Jean Noonan, Partner at Hudson Cook

• William C. MacLeod, Partner at Kelley Drye

They will discuss the Report and its key recommendations including:

• Authorizing the CFPB to license non-depository institutions that provide lending, money transmission, and payments services.

• Expanding access to the payments system by unbanked and underbanked consumers and ensure consistent treatment by applying the same rules to similar financial products.

• Consideration of the costs and benefits of preempting state law and the regulation of FinTech companies engaged in money transmission.

• Caution in restricting the use of nonfinancial alternative data, which can be useful indicators of creditworthiness.

• Working with other agencies to create a unified regulatory regime and eliminate overlapping regulation for new and innovative financial technologies.