The Federal Reserve will make the banking system and economy less safe and less stable with cuts to staffing. Fewer Federal Reserve staff to supervise banks, conduct monetary policy, and support the safe and smooth functioning of the banking system is a bad decision for all Americans. A shortage of trained and experienced bank supervisors was found to be a key cause of the 2023 bank failures. This decision will hurt the Federal Reserve and our banking system.

The SEC and FINRA withdrew staff guidance saying that broker-dealers needed to consider whether they could custody crypto assets in light of their unique risks and still comply with their obligation to safeguard customer assets. The withdrawal of the statement leaves customers unprotected from the unique risks that crypto assets pose.

The CFPB amended a prior settlement with remittance company Wise, which previously found that Wise advertised inaccurate fees and failed to properly disclose exchange rates and other costs. Although the previous settlement ordered Wise to pay approximately $450,000 to overcharged consumers and a $2.025 million fine to the CFPB’s victims relief fund, the new settlement reduces Wise’s fine from over $2 million to $44,955.

The CFPB has withdrawn without public comment its proposed rule on Prohibited Terms and Conditions in Agreements for Consumer Financial Products or Service, which would have prohibited the use of certain contractual provisions that limit expression or purport to waive substantive consumer legal rights and protections, or their remedies, under State or Federal law.

The CFPB has withdrawn without public comment its proposed interpretive rule on “Electronic Fund Transfers through Accounts Established Primarily for Personal, Family, or Household Purposes Using Emerging Payment Mechanisms,” which would have clarified that certain federal consumer protections found in the Electronic Fund Transfers Act apply to certain emerging digital payment applications, such as virtual currency wallets, credit card reward points, and video game account funds.

The CFPB has rescinded its prior 2022 interpretation that instructed (1) that States can enforce any provision of the Consumer Financial Protect Act and potentially any federal consumer financial law; (2) that States are not subject to the same restrictions as the CFPB under the CFPA (such as the exemption of motor vehicle dealers); and (3) that both the CFPB and states can bring separate (“concurrent”) enforcement actions against the same entity. The Bureau’s new interpretation specifically disavows each of these prior interpretations, though the legal weight courts will place on this disavowal remains in question.