The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said “time is running out” for military student loan borrowers to obtain debt relief under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

The bureau has dragged its feet for years in moving forward with the rule primarily because of the potential impact on credit availability for millions of small businesses.

This year’s stress-test results show large banks have more than enough capital to deal with a major economic crisis, but their capital requirements will likely go up anyway. That has some observers and industry officials concerned credit will tighten even as the economy teeters on the edge of recession.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s unified agenda was quietly released this week, and it shows that rules on consumer access to financial records and small-business data collection are top priorities. 

The director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said he plans to take a fresh look at the Qualified Mortgage rule, the CARD Act and other long-standing rules.

The two regional banks announced plans to abandon nonsufficient fund fees and make other moves that will reduce the revenue they collect from cash-strapped consumers.

Martin Gruenberg, the agency' acting chair, said it will be watching commercial real estate and other assets as matters of “ongoing supervisory attention.” 

In a 5-4 Supreme Court decision two years ago, the bureau’s rulemakings survived intact. But a pair of pending cases that challenge the agency's funding through the Federal Reserve are again seeking to invalidate every action the CFPB has taken since 2010.

A more active Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, competition from Big Tech and sanctions on Russia are combining to make compliance a much larger concern than in the past, according to legal experts who spoke at American Banker's Payments Forum.

A 2019 state law limits annual interest rates on many loans to 36%, but some high-cost lenders have found a way to continue operating in California by partnering with banks. Now Democratic legislators want the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to take action.