CFSC Report and Upcoming Meeting

The Consumer Financial Services Committee held its monthly Zoom meeting on November 17th.  We had 16 attendees, including our two new Chairs:  John A. Kimble (Manatt Phelps & Phillips, LLP) and Michael Guerrero (Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP).  First, we spent time introducing ourselves and our practices.  Then Taylor Steinbacher (Senior Counsel in the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation’s Enforcement Division) gave us an insightful deep-dive into DFPI regulation of student loan origination and servicing, among other current topics.

December Meeting

Our next Zoom meeting will be on Wednesday, December 15^th at 11:00 a.m. and thereafter monthly on the third Wednesday of the month at 11:00 a.m.  

Speaker: We are excited to have Kevin Leitão joining us as a speaker. Kevin has recently joined a small national bank that is planning to provide traditional banking services to FinTechs and to offer some banking products through the third-party platform model. He was previously the General Counsel of WebBank, which partners with FinTechs and others to originate loan products. He also served as the Chief Compliance Officer for Merrill Lynch Global Bank Group from 2005-2008 and has held roles at TIAA, GE Capital’s consumer and commercial lending divisions and Softcard (a mobile wallet/payment platform that was a joint venture of ATT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile). We will be having a conversation relating to the bank-partnership model of lending, including issues relating to “true lender” and “valid when made” doctrines. 

We are always looking for topics and speakers for upcoming meetings. If you have an interest, or would like to see us address any specific topic, please reach out to one of the Co-Chairs.  

If you would like to join us for our monthly meeting, you can Zoom in using this link:  https://manatt.zoom.us/j/99901566768?pwd=bVNsRUtuMnZPVGt5bTEzYysyb1JmZz09

None of the work we do can be done without the continued involvement of our Committee members, who we thank for attending the monthly meetings and making other valuable contributions.  We are actively seeking new Committee members and vice-chairs. If you have any interest, or know of anyone who may, please contact John Kimble or Michael Guerrero. 

November Meeting Recap

1. Our Co-Chair Mike Guerrero provided an update on Recent Developments, focusing on recent CFPB orders in the FinTech sector.  He also discussed the FTC’s guidance on automatic renewals (and the interplay between the federal mandates and California’s AB 390).
2. Taylor Steinbacher (Senior Counsel in the Department of Financial Protection & Innovation’s Enforcement Division) discussed current issues impacting the student loan and financing industry, including:
   • An overview of the Department, including details about the name change from DBO to DFPI and its new authority under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law.
   • A discussion of the California Student Loan Servicing Act, as well as the difference between what DFPI handles versus what the Bureau of Post Private Secondary Education handles.
   • The Department’s Income Share Agreement (ISA) consent orders and the CFPB’s ISA settlements.
   • The Department’s work in the student loan debt relief space.