Vedder Price’s Consumer Financial Services practice comprises a full-service and multidisciplinary team with a distinguished record of advising clients in connection with a broad range of issues facing both traditional and nontraditional financial services providers. 

Our highly experienced team of regulatory and compliance, transactional, intellectual property, data privacy and enforcement and litigation attorneys work closely together to bring a holistic approach to tackling projects while providing practical, business-focused guidance, recommendations and advice. This collaboration offers seamless legal services to effectively and efficiently handle our clients’ most pressing matters by addressing the many perspectives and legal considerations that may arise from a particular issue or proposed course of action.

We provide services to a wide range of clients, including:

• Depository institutions
• Fintech and other technology companies
• Installment lenders
• Retailers and captive finance companies
• Equipment finance companies and lessors
• Auto finance lenders and servicers
• Mortgage lenders and servicers
• Student loan lenders and servicers
• Marketplace lenders
• Payday lenders
• Payment processors
• Consumer reporting agencies and resellers
• Debt collectors and buyers in corporate, regulatory and litigation matters throughout the United States

Regulatory and Compliance

Our regulatory and compliance practice is well-versed in the full range of federal and state consumer financial protection and banking laws and regulations that financial services providers face, including compliance advice concerning the following. 

• Consumer and commercial credit products – Marketing, underwriting, originating, servicing and collecting 
• Payment systems and networks

Our experience includes advising and assisting clients in connection with the following laws:

• Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering laws (BSA/AML)
• Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and state-level equivalents
• Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) 
• Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign)
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and state-level equivalents
• Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)
• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and state-level equivalents
• Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP)
• Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
• Money Service Business laws and state-level money transmission equivalents
• Domestic and International Privacy and Data Security requirements
• Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act (RESPA) and Regulation X
• Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
• Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
• Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Regulation Z
• Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP)/Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices (UDAP)

In addition to our advisor role, we can provide assistance in obtaining relevant state licenses for companies engaged in consumer finance-related activities. Our licensing work frequently takes place in conjunction with our representation of clients during product and system design or through the acquisition or investment in consumer financial services businesses and products. We have considerable experience with the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and in all facets of application submission and license maintenance.

Regulatory Enforcement

Our attorneys are national leaders in the financial services industry and regularly counsel clients with respect to both formal and informal enforcement actions brought by federal and state banking and consumer financial protection agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and state attorneys general, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and state and local regulators, both within and outside of our geographic footprint.

Our regulatory and litigation teams work hand in hand to provide an advanced knowledge of regulatory trends, and our clients across the financial services industry depend on our nationwide team to assist in the resolution of enforcement and investigation actions and provide preventive guidance on compliance.

Product and System Design

Our regulatory team has considerable experience representing both traditional and nontraditional financial services companies, including Fintech and other technology companies, ranging from startups to established enterprises and those seeking expansion. We can provide significant experience and counseling in the development, launch and maintenance of consumer-related financial products and services.

Our experience includes advising on:

• Consumer and small business finance products and services, including secured and unsecured loans; credit cards, home equity lines of credit and other open-end products; motor vehicle and equipment retail installment sale agreements; consumer and commercial leases; and government-insured and private student loan programs
• State-level licensing requirements in all 50 states, sometimes in multiple license categories
• Payment card products, including prepaid, payroll and other stored-value cards and gift cards, as well as more traditional deposit products and certificates
• Credit insurance, debt cancellation, debt suspension and ancillary products
• Pre-dispute arbitration programs, including implementation and enforcement
• Compliance with advertising and marketing requirements
• Compliance with state and federal statutes that prohibit unfair, deceptive or abusive acts and practices
• Compliance with federal and state military lending laws
• Compliance with Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering requirements
• Use of the Internet, electronic payment systems, social media and mobile phone technology
• Privacy and data security, mining and aggregation
• Credit reporting and debt collection practices
• Electronic records storage and electronic delivery of credit-related disclosures
• Artificial intelligence issues

We also represent traditional and nontraditional consumer financial services providers in transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, debt insurances and equity raises, intellectual property, data privacy and enforcement and litigation matters.