Ballard Spahr LLP (LexBlog Mexico)
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Study of Illinois 36% interest rate cap finds reduced access to credit
Over the past few years, numerous states have imposed interest rate caps on consumer credit. In recent blog posts, we discussed the efforts of both Michigan and New Mexico to impose a 36% annual interest rate cap. Last year, Congress took up the discussion of a national 36% annual interest rate cap. A recent study...
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AML Compliance “Expert” Pleads Guilty to Failure to Maintain Effective AML Program for Over $1 Billion in High-Risk Transactions
Indictment Focuses on “High Risk” Transactions Involving Mexico, Bulk Cash, and Zero SAR Filings On September 13, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced that defendant Hanan Ofer pleaded guilty to “failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.” Ofer and his co-defendant, Gyanendra Asre, were named in a...
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Bill to impose 36% rate cap passes New Mexico House and Senate
The New Mexico House and Senate have both passed House Bill 132 which would create a 36% annual percentage rate (APR) cap on loans up to $10,000 made under the New Mexico Bank Installment Loan Act of 1959 (BILA) and the New Mexico Small Loan Act (SLA). In an apparent effort to reach non-bank participants...
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Alleged Money Launderers for Mexican Drug Cartels Indicted in Southern District of California
Last week, the Southern District of California partially unsealed a superseding indictment (the “Indictment”) revealing allegations against 29 alleged members of an international money laundering organization (“MLO”) tied to some of the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organizations in Mexico, and who allegedly laundered over $32 million in drug proceeds from the United States...
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Nevada and New Mexico State Medical Debt Collections Laws to Take Effect July 1, 2021
State legislatures in New Mexico and Nevada enacted laws this session targeting medical debt collections. Both laws have been signed by the states’ Governors and take effect July 1, 2021. New Mexico Patients Debt Collection Practices Act The New Mexico Patients Debt Collection Practices Act places a number of requirements on health care facilities and...
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Employee Files Suit Alleging Employer-Mandated COVID Vaccine Violates Emergency Use Authorization Law
On February 28, 2021, an employee of a county detention center filed suit in federal court in New Mexico seeking an injunction to prevent the employee from being fired for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine on the basis that the vaccines have only been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under...
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CFPB announces settlement with payday and auto title loan lender to resolve alleged CFPA, FCRA, and TILA violations
The CFPB announced that it has entered into a settlement with Cottonwood Financial, Ltd., to resolve alleged violations by Cottonwood of the CFPA, FCRA, and TILA in the course of marketing, servicing, and collecting on payday, auto title, and unsecured consumer installment loans. Cottonwood operates approximately 340 retail lending outlets in Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, New...
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Student loan servicing developments in California, Illinois, and Washington; legislation introduced in Virginia and New Mexico
The new year heralds many new developments in the state regulation of student loan servicers. California, Illinois, and Washington have each taken significant steps in implementing their existing laws while legislation has been introduced in Virginia and New Mexico to regulate student loan servicers for the first time. California. California’s Department of Business Oversight has published...
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Mexico’s AML Regime Evaluated by the FATF: Systemic Improvement, but Suspicious Transaction Reporting and Law Enforcement Efforts Continue to Struggle
Last week, the Financial Action Task Force (“FATF”) issued a report concluding that Mexico needs to “step up efforts in pursuing money launderers.” The report, which summarized the FATF’s findings from its on-site assessment in early 2017, identified three particularly weak areas in Mexico’s AML regime: preventative measures; investigation and prosecution; and confiscation. This post...
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Democratic state AGs threaten aggressive use of enforcement authority in letter to President Trump; Ballard Spahr to hold Jan. 11 webinar
The Democratic attorneys general of 16 states and the District of Columbia have sent a letter to President Trump in which they express their support for the CFPB’s consumer protection mission and criticize the President’s appointment of Mick Mulvaney as CFPB Acting Director. The 16 states are New York, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine,...
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Democratic state AGs seek to intervene in PHH appeal
The Democratic Attorneys General of 16 states and the District of Columbia have filed a motion with the D.C. Circuit seeking to intervene in the PHH appeal. The states are Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. According to the AGs,...
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CFPB May 2016 complaint report highlights credit reporting complaints, complaints from New Mexico consumers
The CFPB has issued its May 2016 complaint report which highlights complaints about credit reporting and complaints from consumers in New Mexico and the Albuquerque metro area. The CFPB began taking complaints about credit reporting in October 2012. Credit reporting complaints were also the subject of the CFPB’s August 2015 monthly report. General findings include the...
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CFPB to hold May 5 field hearing on arbitration
The CFPB has announced that it will hold a field hearing in Albuquerque, New Mexico about arbitration on May 5, 2016. We expect the field hearing to coincide with the release of the CFPB’s proposed rule on the use of arbitration agreements in certain consumer financial services contracts. In October 2015, the CFPB convened its...