Firm News

On July 20, 2020, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), as part of its FDiTech initiative, released information
regarding a proposed public/private standard-setting partnership and a voluntary certification program…Read More

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued its final rule regarding Payday, Vehicle Title and Certain High-Cost Loans (“Rule”). The final Rule will be effective 90 days after its publication in the Federal Register…Read More

We established this blog to share stories and information about topics relevant to our practice. Our intent is to regularly provide posts highlighting legal issues of local, state and national interest that we think you will find interesting. Check back later for updates.

Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals has opined that Bitcoin is considered “money” under the Florida Money Service Business statute and a cash-for-bitcoin business must be registered as a money service business. Florida v. Espinoza, No. 3D16-1860, 2019-WL-361893 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2019)…Read More

On January 16th, Mastercard announced new rules for merchants and acquirers of merchants that engage in negative option billing, including specific rules for credit card billing in connection with trial offers…Read More

The rise of cryptocurrencies has created a new method to raise capital, the initial coin offering (“ICO”). An ICO is a process used mainly by private tech startups from the digital sector, where a company creates a new virtual coin or token (“coin”) and offers it for public sale. ICOs are raising amounts of money comparable to the amount of money raised by venture capital fundraising. In the third quarter of 2017, ICOs reportedly raised $1.32 billion and early-stage tech companies using venture capital fundraising raised $1.41 billion. ICOs are on pace to…
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On Deck, Kabbage and CAN Capital have formed the Innovative Lending Platform Association (ILPA). The ILPA along with the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) are launching a pricing comparison tools initiative. The AEO is a national membership organization that creates economic opportunities for underserved entrepreneurs. Read More

On May 10, 2016, the United States Department of the Treasury issued a white paper that provides (i) an overview of the online marketplace lending industry, (ii) a summary of the responses that the Treasury received to its 2015 Request for Information on the
industry (RFI), (iii) policy recommendations for private sector participants and the federal government and (iv) identification of
trends that the Treasury believes require ongoing observation. Read More

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland released on August 25, 2015 a report entitled “Alternative Lending through the Eyes of ‘Mom & Pop’ Small- Business Owners: Findings from Online Focus Groups” (attached). The report provides the results on a study of small business owners’ perceptions and understandings with respect to online alternative lenders and cash advance providers and their small dollar credit products. Read More

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), Chase Bank, USA N.A. and its subsidiary Chase BankCard Services, Inc. (collectively “Chase”), recently entered into a Consent Order for alleged violations by Chase of Sections 1036(a)(1) and (a)(3) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, 12 U.S.C. §§ 5536(a)(1) and (a)(3) (“CFPA”), with respect to Chase’s debt sale and collection
practices. Read More