A recent memo by the head of the Trump administration’s fair housing office claims that the Fair Housing Act doesn’t create protected groups, only protected individuals. So HUD won’t look at how lenders behave in neighborhoods. This is a massive change. Gift link ⬇️ www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Couple of interesting CFPB filings went for White House review this week.

I felt like the timeline could use a brief change a pace, so I just wanted to share this press release that came to my inbox.

Robert Redford is one of those actors/directors that I liked to pretend I wasn't into. My parents loved him, so he must've been uncool! Then, I make a list of my favorite movies and he keeps popping up and I have to concede they were right. Happy trails, Sundance Kid. Say hi to Paul.

I'm up in @bloomberglaw.com arguing that the recent push to reshape bank supervision, and Matters Requiring Attention in particular, "is the wrong remedy, resulting from [a] misdiagnosis of MRAs’ problems."

The news here is that the CFPB showed up to argue a case in an appellate court (and that it was defending a big ol' penalty against a company that scammed families trying to get loved ones out of immigration detention). news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

This story from my colleague Alex Wolf on the nightmare Boy Scouts sex abuse victims are confronting as they try to access their settlement money is truly heartbreaking but vital reading. news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-l...

Unless more guidance is coming, the "debanking" reviews the SBA wants (and other regulators are going to seek, extend back to basically forever. And lenders are going to be confronted with the challenge of proving a negative. New from me:

I've watched a lot of Senate Banking Committee hearings, and I've never seen Jack Reed (D-RI) as angry as he was when Miran said he would take a leave of absence from the White House if confirmed for the Fed rather than resigning.

CFPB's clearing the decks now that it can legally start the RIF and it's budget is shrinking (motions for en banc reviews pending, of course). New from me this morning.

One of the many things I learned from this story: Wyoming apparently has its own stablecoin. Also, get ready for more "uniformity" in state stablecoin regulations (and maybe lawsuits from states that might want to go their own way) news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

Forgot to post this Friday, but the OCC is gearing up for novel applications (that's stablecoin charters to you) even as its workforce shrinks. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

Folks. I messed up on the timing of when the order takes effect. Depending on how long various appeals take, it could be months. And now, I return to my usual weekend social media moratorium.

The reduction in force won't be immediate. The court is going to hold off on issuing the mandate in this case for one week to give the union time to seek a rehearing at the panel level or a review by the full DC Circuit. Either way, the CFPB is running out of cash to pay people

"This alleged assault is no joke — it’s a serious crime, and those who think otherwise will learn just how gravely mistaken they are," said Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for DC, in a press release that said Dunn "hurled a hoagie" at an officer in the headline.

Quibi II: The Revenge.

Apparently there's now a dark money campaign calling on Trump to reverse his reversal on allowing the CFPB open banking rule to live?

The CFPB may be back in the webinar business. This one next month is about financial exploitation of people in cognitive decline featuring a representative from the agency's Office for Older Americans. Only notable because they hadn't been doing this sort of stuff since January.

The CFPB is kicking off a process that would see them drastically roll back its supervision of nonbank companies in the auto lending, credit reporting, debt collection and international remittance markets. That's if they get back in the supervision business. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

A federal judge in North Dakota vacated the Fed's 2011 debit card interchange fee rules last night. This was the case where the Supreme Court said new market entrants can challenge rules that existed before the company challenging them did. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

The most anger a post of mine ever engendered was when I said Hamilton was perfectly fine but I didn't get what the big deal was. Also, that I had a better time watching Avengers: Endgame the day before I saw it. I'm pretty sure people yelled at me because they knew I was right.

Jagr navždy!

In this, I conclude that President Trump is likely earning around $13 million annually from his stake in World Liberty Financial, which co-launched the USD1 stablecoin with BitGo. Incidentally, BitGo has just applied for an OCC trust bank charter.

I hope the songwriter got the two-pronged guitar in the deal.

Microsoft copilot just randomly popped up to see if it could help me and I've never wanted to punch a computer screen more.

Make time for this fun story from my colleague Katie Arcieri on top anti-trust lawyers involved in some of the key fights in the sports world today. Also, it's a great exercise in remembering some guys. Freeman McNeil! news.bloomberglaw.com/antitrust/ke...

The CFPB is running out of money, and thanks to the Republican reconciliation bill it can't ask for more even if Russ Vought wanted to (he doesn't). It's all a part of the plan. New from me: news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

The indomitable Paige Smith and I took a deep dive into the ever-changing, yet still static, fight between banks and fintechs over financial data, and a CFPB that appears to have been caught off guard about the consequences of its actions. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

Here's the story from the mighty Paige Smith (who I don't believe is here) and me: news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

Quick update on the CFPB open banking litigation as the fight over JPMorgan data fees chugs along: The CFPB says that it's going to put out an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to update the rule and asked the court to put litigation over the rule on hold while the process plays out.

Spoiler: It's my living room.

My older son is turtle-sitting his best friend's turtle for the month, and we had to put the tank near where I work at home. Master Ugwe is much more active than I figured he'd be, but it's also a bit distressing to watch him repeatedly swim into the tank wall like he's surprised it's there.

Didn't post this on Friday night, but the DC Circuit (unsurprisingly) stayed the reinstatements of Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka to the NCUA board.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Washington reinstated Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka, two Democratic NCUA board members Trump fired. On Wednesday, the judge denied a motion to stay the ruling. On Thursday, everyone's at the NCUA board meeting. And everyone looks thrilled!

By the way, there's an NCUA board meeting tomorrow morning. The judge in the case denied a request to stay his ruling ahead of it. This might be the most interesting NCUA board meeting ever.

Congress just slashed the CFPB's budget. The acting director hasn't asked the Fed for any money since he took over in February. So obviously the CFPB is going to pay nearly $5 million for Russell Vought's security detail. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

I updated the story after my social media clock expired. So here's the full story. Trump administration already filed its notice of appeal. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

Don't sleep on "The Wizard" (track 2 of the first album). It rocks.

New from me: A federal judge reinstated two Democratic NCUA board members that Trump fired in April. More TK: news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

I don't think people have spoken enough about what appears to be The Thing's stone beard in this shot from the movie. What do you use to shave a stone beard?

I was tied up most of the morning, so I didn't get a chance to post these two stories. Anyway, it looks like there may be some second thoughts in some corners of the CFPB about moving to vacate the open banking rule now that the fees are getting real. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

The vote is still open, so I guess there's a chance for some strong-arming and vote switching. But it appears that the rule to vote on crypto bills is in trouble in the House again.

Sometimes the best laid plans...

I was out at a meeting for a few hours. What's new with the crypto bills in the House?

I took the boys to see "Weird Al" at Madison Square Garden over the weekend, and man, was it a blast. Just such a fun time being in an arena with a bunch of gentle nerds who were out for a nice laugh.

If you're not following @benjaminpenn.bsky.social you should really fix that.

A Texas judge just vacated the Biden-era CFPB's ban on medical debt appearing on credit reports, following a request from the Trump-era CFPB to do so. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

The Biden-era CFPB said that banks couldn't charge fintechs for access to customer account data. The Trump era CFPB says they can. And now JPMorgan Chase is telling fintechs they're going to have to pay. A lot. New from me and Paige Smith. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...

I know people are focused on Trump yelling about rates and who might be the next Fed chair. But don't sleep on the administration complaints about construction costs. I'm not a monetary policy expert, but I do know a lot about for-cause removal protections. news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/...