BNA INSIGHTS: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Authority to Regulate ‘Abusive’ Consumer Financial Products and Services

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) has been given a broad and vaguely-defined power to prohibit and punish “unfair, deceptive, and abusive financial practices.”…

Facebook Agrees to Settle FTC Claims; Express Consent Needed to Share User Data

Facebook Inc. will have to give users “clear and prominent notice” and obtain “affirmative express consent” before sharing customers’ information beyond their existing privacy settings, under a proposed administrative consent order with the FTC made public Nov. 29…

In Significant Move to Global Interoperability, APEC Leaders Approve Cross-Border Data Transfer Rules

The recent approval of new cross-border data transfer privacy rules by Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministers is a significant step toward a global system for transferring personal information despite a dizzying array of disparate data privacy regimes…

Consumer Protection Front and Center as Supreme Court Eyes Banking Cases

When it comes to banking cases, consumer protection is the dominant theme as the U.S. Supreme Court heads into its new term…

New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to Begin Exams of More Than 100 Large Banks July 21, 2011

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will examine 111 large banks with assets of more than $10 billion when it begins operations on July 21, the Treasury Department said in a July 12 statement outlining the new agency’s supervision plans…

Federal Reserve Raises Cap on Debit Card Swipe Fees, Provides Banks with More Time to Comply

A divided Federal Reserve Board June 29 cleared a final rule that caps so-called swipe fees on debit card transactions much higher than the 12-cent limit that the Fed proposed in December…

BNA INSIGHTS: Review of 2010 Bank Enforcement Actions: A Hardened Government Attitude

The number of formal enforcement actions issued by the federal banking agencies exploded again in 2010, following a record setting year in 2009 in which the federal banking agencies issued more than 1000 formal enforcement actions for the first time…

FTC-Google Pact: First Major Safe Harbor Action, First Privacy by Design Requirement

The Federal Trade Commission’s proposed administrative consent agreement with Google Inc. over the internet giant’s alleged misuse of user data during the launch of its now-abandoned Buzz social network yielded a number of firsts—including the FTC’s first action against a firm for failing to live up to privacy promises…

Obama Administration, in Major Policy Shift, Seeks ‘Privacy Bill of Rights’

In a significant privacy rights strategy shift, the Obama administration March 16 for the first time called on Congress to pass “privacy bill of rights” legislation to protect consumers…

BNA INTERVIEW: FTC’s Vladeck Sees Game-Changing Proposals in Agency’s Privacy Report

While much of the discussion around a recently-unveiled Federal Trade Commission staff report on privacy has focused on a proposed “do-not-track” mechanism for the internet, the document contains other game-changing recommendations, according to David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

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