On March 5, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a Final Rule that would significantly restrict late fees that consumer credit card issuers may charge to a mere $8—representing approximately a 75% reduction from current levels. Within two days, the Final Rule faced a challenge in the Northern District of Texas by a coalition of trade groups including the United States Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers Association, and the Consumer Bankers Association. The challenge seeks to invalidate the Final Rule on several constitutional, procedural, and substantive bases, as well as a temporary stay of the rule’s enforcement while the suit is litigated. Please join Mayer Brown attorneys Eric Mitzenmacher, Jan Stewart, and Joy Tsai as they discuss the rulemaking, the challenges it faces in litigation, and implications for card issuers and secondary market participants.

The CFPB has launched an aggressive campaign against so-called “junk fees.” This year the CFPB has released proposed rules targeting overdraft and non-sufficient funds fees and a final rule targeting credit card late fees. Along the same lines, two of the three latest editions of the Bureau’s Supervisory Highlights were marketed as special editions focused on junk fees. In this episode of our Global Financial Markets Podcast, Frank Doorley and Christa Bieker discuss what you need to know about the CFPB’s focus on fees that it asserts are hidden from the competitive process.

The end of 2023 saw a barrage of major proposals and other actions by US banking regulators. Many of these are contentious issues that have divided regulators and generated significant public controversy. Final proposals of some could be coming in 2024, but only if they can avoid being crowded out by the federal elections in the fall. Please join Mayer Brown partners Jeffrey Taft and Matt Bisanz as they discuss these proposals and how they may impact the banking industry.