Welcome to the Research Assistant Weekly Newsletter - a subscriber-only resource for insight into emerging compliance challenges, details on peer calls, and links to new Research Assistant reports, documents, tools, and more.

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Last week, insideARM published After Oral Argument, Justices Seem Likely to Preserve CFPB Funding summarizing the likely outcome of the Consumer Financial Services Association (CFSA) vs. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) case before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). Based on our collective observation of the oral arguments presented on October 3rd, 2023 and the moves that have happened since, the industry should brace itself for a newly empowered CFPB. In fact, immediately following the oral arguments it was published that they hired 75 additional enforcement attorneys, the largest hiring spree to date. This cannot be coincidental, the CFPB is ready and armed to make sure their voice is as loud as possible and at the forefront of news headlines. With an upcoming election year, this will only encourage these continued tactics. 

On Monday’s Research Assistant peer call we discussed how to convey this topic with Executive Leadership, specifically when budgets are tightening across the industry and compliance jobs are often used as a quick fix budget reduction. 

Here are some tips from our members: 

• Make sure your Executive understands the moves the CFPB is making. Draft memos and follow-up verbally to emphasize the importance of these trends.
  

• Show evidence of your compliance management systems success whenever you can. Whether that’s with litigation and complaint trends, or through your client relationships. It’s critical that leadership continues to support the resources necessary to facilitate a robust Compliance Management System (CMS) or there’s a possibility it will cost the company significantly more later.
  

• Your communication with leadership should always be direct, risk-based, and factual. 

The Research Assistant peer group will continue to keep a close eye on these trends, especially as we enter into an election year.

Documents and Crowdsourced Materials:

• RA Member Questions: FDCPA Sample Letters, SCRA Scrubs, New York, California, Colorado and AI!

• Sample FDCPA Letter

Top Reads:

• Senate Banking Committee Debates AI in Finance: Balancing Opportunities and Risks

• October 11 Was a Red-Letter Day in the Growing Federal-State War on Fees

• CFPB and FTC File Amicus Brief Urging Second Circuit to Find FCRA Requires Unverified Information to be Deleted from Consumer Report

Upcoming Webinars/ Other Announcements:

• Upcoming Webinar: Work Smarter, Not Harder – Keeping Tabs On Laws, Rules, and Regs (and keeping ops looped in), October 25th at 2:00 ET,  Register here.

• Attending Fall Forum? Let’s Connect!

• Please make a note of our updated email addresses: 

• Sara Woggerman, sara_consultant@roundtables.us 

• Missy Meggision, mmeggison@roundtables.us 

• Reminder: Send any topics or questions that you want to discuss to Sara_Consultant@roundtables.us by Thursday to ensure it makes it on our agenda!