Firm Alerts

State and federal regulators continue to wrestle with digital currency issues. Notable developments at the federal level include the following: OCC ANPRM and Letter Regarding Cryptoassets On July 7th, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking and requested comments by August 3rd related to its regulations on banking issues related to digital activities, use of technology and innovation. The notice posed a number of questions for the public to answer, including the following set of questions related to cryptocurrency: What types of...

On August 31, 2020, the California legislature passed AB 1864, a bill that has been nicknamed the "Mini-CFPB" as it creates a state regulatory agency resembling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB"). The bill would rename the "Department of Business Oversight" ("DBO") as the "Department of Financial Protection and Innovation" (DFPI"). In addition to the existing powers already executed by the DBO, the new DFPI would also have the authority to bring a civil action to enforce the provisions of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 or regulations issued by the CFPB...

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) has proposed a rule that addresses when a national bank or federal savings bank will be deemed to make a loan under federal banking law and is the “true lender” in partnerships with third parties...Read More  

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... Read More

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