Legislation

Yesterday, on Sunday, March 22, 2020, U.S. Senate Republicans released the latest version of their COVID-19-related stimulus bill, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or CARES Act.  The bill contains several measures intended to provide relief to banks, their customers, and broader financial markets.

The latest version of the CARES Act includes the…

On January 7, 2020, the presidential campaign of Senator Elizabeth Warren released a plan to overhaul the consumer bankruptcy system in the United States. The plan would repeal means testing and other provisions of the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. It would also implement enhanced protections for consumer debtors who file for bankruptcy.

Perhaps most significantly, the plan would abolish the “undue hardship” standard for the discharge of student loans. Under current law, borrowers seeking to discharge student loans must file a separate adversary proceeding alongside their non-adversary bankruptcy case and make a significant showing of hardship. The plan would treat student loans identically to other types of consumer debt, allowing for their discharge without any special showing.
Continue Reading Warren Proposes Far-Reaching Consumer Bankruptcy Reforms

Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), the newly appointed Chair of the House Financial Services Committee (the “Committee”), took a first step last week towards one of the major priorities of the Committee under her leadership – the promotion of diversity and inclusion in the financial services sector.  The first change under the new Chair’s watch was the creation of a new subcommittee to support this objective.  Chair Waters’ other agenda items for the Committee continue to take shape, but she has previously indicated that her focus will be on, among other things, protecting consumers and investors from abusive financial practices, ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent another financial crisis, expanding affordable housing opportunities and tackling homelessness, and encouraging responsible innovation of financial technology.
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Continue Reading Renewed Focus on Diversity and Inclusion for Rep. Waters-led House Financial Services Committee

The House of Representatives voted this afternoon to pass the Financial CHOICE Act (“CHOICE 2.0”), its comprehensive financial regulatory reform bill.  The key provisions of CHOICE 2.0 are summarized in our client alert of April 24, 2017, available here, although the bill has evolved somewhat since April.  As we wrote late last month, Representative…