Expecting a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) examination?  Think again.  The first time you might hear from the CFPB is during an investigation.  The CFPB has investigations underway that span the full breadth of the Bureau’s enforcement authority over providers of financial products and services and their vendors.  The CFPB has authority over large banks and nonbank financial institutions, including private student lenders, small dollar lenders, mortgage lenders, money transmitters, debt relief service providers, debt collectors, auto finance companies, and credit reporting agencies.

Venable attorneys Jonathan L. Pompan and Alexandra Megaris write in a recent piece that if your company is the recipient of a civil investigative demand (“CID”) from the CFPB the process is not an easy one.  When a CID is received, the recipient first must decide whether to (1) petition the CFPB for an order modifying or setting aside the CID, or (2) negotiate the scope of the CID.  These decisions must be made quickly.  Pompan and Megaris walk through the early decisions that companies under CFPB investigation need to consider and several key steps involved in negotiating the scope of a CID.  Click here to read the full article.

Also, Jonathan will be moderating a panel session on Consumer Financial Protection Investigations and Enforcement at the ABA Antitrust Fall Forum on Thursday, November 8 in Washington, DC.  This session brings together enforcers from the DOJ, FTC, and CFPB and will discuss the latest enforcement and policy related developments.  Panelists are J. Reilly Dolan, Assistant Director, Division of Financial Practices, FTC; Lucy Morris, Deputy Enforcement Director, CFPB; and Deirdre McEvoy, Chief, New York Field Office, U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, New York, NY.  To register, please click here.