PLI's 25th Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute will take place on December 7-8, 2020 by live webcast.

The Institute is considered the country's premier consumer financial services CLE program and this year's Institute will once again explore in detail important developments in consumer financial services regulation and litigation. I am again co-chairing the event, as I have for the past 24 years.

While the leadership and priorities of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Federal Trade Commission have changed under the Trump Administration, these agencies have remained active in enforcing consumer financial services laws. In addition, state regulators and attorneys general have increased their enforcement activity to fill any void created by a decline in activity at the federal level. The volume of private litigation, particularly under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act, also remains high. At the same time, the improved economy prior to COVID-19, the deregulatory environment at the federal level, and the increase in technological innovation has resulted in new entrants into the consumer financial services industry and the offering of new products by existing industry players.

Former CFPB Director Richard Cordray will deliver a keynote address. The morning session on the first day will feature two consecutive panel discussions titled “Federal Regulators Speak,” that will be divided into two segments and focus on federal regulatory, enforcement, and supervisory developments. I will co-moderate both. The first panel will feature a discussion among CFPB and FTC representatives. The second panel will feature OCC and FDIC representatives.

My partner Chris Willis, Practice Leader of our firm's Consumer Financial Services Litigation Group, will participate as a panel member on an afternoon panel each day. The first, titled “The Rapidly Evolving Landscape for FinTech,” will examine the legal issues facing users of aggregated data and data providers, the use of artificial intelligence (AI), alternative data, and Blockchain, and the legal challenges facing marketplace lenders (including Madden and “true lender”). The other panel is titled “Fair Credit Reporting Act/Debt Collection Issues,” and will include a discussion of the CFPB's final debt collection rule, FCRA litigation trends, and FCRA legislative activity.

The Institute will also focus on a variety of other cutting-edge issues and developments, including:

  • State regulatory and enforcement developments
  • Data security and privacy issues
  • TCPA developments
  • Class actions and UDAP litigation developments
  • Consumer advocates' perspectives on current regulatory and litigation issues

In addition, attendees can receive up to one full hour of Ethics credit exploring ethical issues unique to the consumer space and satisfy their Diversity & Inclusion/Elimination of Bias credit requirements.

We hope you can join us for this informative and valuable program. PLI has made a special 25 percent discounted registration fee available to those who register using the link that follows. To register and view a complete description of PLI's 25th Annual Consumer Financial Services Institute, click here.

Originally Published by Ballard Spahr, November 2020

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