The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was established as part of Dodd-Frank reform following the 2008 financial crisis to focus on financial law pertaining to the protection of consumers in the financial marketplace; in 2016 a three-judge D.C. circuit panel declared the CFPB unconstitutional in the PHH vs. CFPB case and gave full director accountability power to the president; an appeal by the CFPB overturned that ruling and called for a rehearing of the case before a broader panel of judges which is set for May 24, 2017; on Friday, March 17 the US Justice Department filed a brief requesting that the federal appeals court restructure the CFPB; the brief appears to be focused on the fact that the CFPB director was setup to have no accountability to the president; in the case of PHH vs. CFPB, lawyers from PHH reported that the CFPB should be dissolved; the Justice Department's brief appears to focus just on the CFPB director's accountability. Source
Overstock.com launches a joint venture with RenGen and Argon Group for an automated trading system for tokens via ICOs; according to Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne the JV will be the first platform to meet regulatory requirements of both the SEC and Finra. Source.
Bank of America has optimized auto loan applications for mobile apps and is looking to expand to mortgages with a similar offering; the expansion follows a market trend toward increased demand for digital mortgage offerings; Bank of America plans to launch its mobile mortgage application in 2017 as it seeks to broaden its service availability to a full range of service channels; the mobile offering will expand on the firm's current online mortgage experience which provides for electronic applications and documentation with the benefit of automating and verifying customer information; within the industry, JPMorgan is also developing a mobile mortgage offering through its partnership with Roostify and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has set a precedent for mobile mortgage service with the launch of its Hello Home product. Source
Deposit accounts and debit cards will be available to some customers next month according to SoFi; the account will function like a checking account that will earn interest; the company recently shared that they were working with WSFS Financial Corp for the new product called SoFi Money. Source