COMPLY is turning 2! To celebrate, we have pulled together a compilation of some of our favorite moments from the last couple of years so that we could highlight some of the many great speakers that we have had on the show.
In today’s podcast, our guests will share their insights on the following:
- How taking a look at past enforcement actions can help you shore up your compliance program.
- What the growth of the CFPB means for future enforcements.
- Why training and ongoing discussions with your team matter when building a culture of compliance.
- The importance of organizations proactively taking extra steps to protect consumers.
- The importance of having an automated RegTech solution in place to ensure both compliance and brand protection.
Show Notes:
- Building, Evolving, and Automating Fintech Marketing Compliance with Ethan Singleton: https://performline.com/blog-post/episode-41-building-evolving-and-automating-fintech-marketing-compliance/
- CFPB Complaints, Enforcements, & Navigating New Compliance Challenges with Melissa Baal Guidorizzi: https://performline.com/blog-post/episode-38-cfpb-complaints-enforcements-navigating-new-compliance-challenges/
- Building a Culture of Compliance with Faraz Rana: https://performline.com/blog-post/episode-28-building-a-culture-of-compliance-with-faraz-rana/
- UDAAP Compliance Trends and Best Practices Pt. 1 with James Kim: https://performline.com/blog-post/episode-25-udaap-compliance-trends-and-best-practices-pt-1/
- The Top UDAAP Compliance Issues Across Published Content with Michael Gibney: https://performline.com/blog-post/episode-22-the-top-udaap-compliance-issues-across-published-content/
- Why Banks are Investing in Marketing Compliance Technology Blog: https://performline.com/blog-post/why-banks-are-investing-in-marketing-compliance-technology/
- Consumer Complaint and Compliance Trends for Bank-Fintech Partnerships Infographic: https://content.performline.com/infographic/consumer-complaint-compliance-trends-bank-fintech-partnerships
- Connect with me, Rhonda: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhonda-mcgill/
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About COMPLY: The Marketing Compliance Podcast
The state of marketing compliance and regulation is evolving faster than ever, especially for those in the consumer finance space. On the COMPLY Podcast, we sit down with the biggest names in marketing, compliance, regulations, and innovation as they share their playbooks to help you take your compliance practice to the next level.
Episode Transcript:
Rhonda:
Hey COMPLY podcast listeners and welcome to this week’s episode. But first, join me in celebrating the COMPLY Podcast’s second birthday. To celebrate this occasion, we’ve compiled some highlights from some of your favorite episodes. Check out the following top 5 expert insights to help you shape your compliance program as you continue to navigate the regulatory landscape in 2024. So without further delay, lets hear what they have to say!
Thanks for listening and enjoy!
Rhonda:
First we will hear from Ethan Singleton, Principal at FS Vector who discusses how organizations can take a look at past enforcement actions to shore up their compliance program.
Ethan:
We’re probably going to have more actions from a regulatory perspective throughout this year. I don’t think that’s a hot take or anything new, and it’s probably the consensus across the board. But like focusing on the fintech and Banking-as-a-Service space, I think those financial institutions are going through a tough time with their regulators, for better or worse. But I think for those that are maybe looking to get into the Banking-as-a-Service space, or those already in it, the enforcement actions that have happened over the past 18 months or so are actually roadmaps of like how to not do things. So if you’re a financial institution in the space, you can look at any order that’s coming from the OCC or the FDIC, the consent orders, that kind of specifically lay out issues with, you know, BSA/AML programs, or fintech oversight, ongoing testing and monitoring, even to to some extent like the use of data and these relationships. And you could take every single one of those line items and the regulatory feedback and say, great, here’s the recommendation, or finding that they have made. Here’s how we’re going to address it at our financial institution.
Rhonda:
I always appreciate discussion with Ethan. He has a way of really simplifying things that others would believe to be complicated processes. When you think about the complexities of the Banking-as-a-Service space there are so many best practices to be learned from the feedback regulators have provided. As Ethan says, follow that roadmap.
Rhonda:
Next we have CFPB alumni, Melissa Baal Guidorizzi, who shares her thoughts on the growth of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and what that means as it applies to enforcements.
Melissa:
So part of this is just natural progression, perhaps because I was in the Office of Enforcement my whole time. The CFPB is growing and its jurisdiction continues to grow, and so you need more staff. But this director has made it very clear that his focus is on big tech. Big, big, big. So the focus is on larger market moving type matters instead of focusing on trying to get a wider swath necessarily of smaller matters. And that’s born out in the cases that you see. The other thing I would say is the CFPB as a maturing agency is getting more pushback. So not only because the Supreme Court is still figuring out constitutionality, but also because the demands are getting higher and companies are becoming more willing to fight back. There’s more litigation, so you need more lawyers. Litigation is a different kind of animal than just settling matters. So that is a natural progression, which people should have and could have predicted in the beginning, because in the beginning there was a lot of consent orders and now there is a lot more litigation.
Rhonda:
Melissa’s insight is spot-on. There does seem to be an increase in pushback and less settling on matters. But the other truth is that consumer complaints have continued to increase year-over-year. So it’s not only important to pay close attention to what consumers are complaining about, but to also make sure that you understand how the Bureau is responding.
Rhonda:
Now we are going to hear from James Kim, Partner at Troutman Pepper. He is going to speak to us about how he advises clients on taking the extra step of not just being honest and transparent, but going the extra mile to protect consumers.
James:
The CFPB sadly is a result oriented agency. You know, people talk about process, they’re not process driven, right? Processes, you have public notice and comment. You have a fair transparent process. People and companies know the rules of the road, the CFPB they have their idea of what their outcome is, and then they play a little bit of gotcha with you, right? So what does that mean for companies? So one of the ways I try to give practical advice is really what the CFPB and others want is almost a fiduciary duty. And my colleagues joke with me and they say, James, strike almost, they want a fiduciary duty. You have to be transparent with the consumer, you have to look out and protect their interests. You’re taking it to another, they are your fiduciary. You owe them a fiduciary duty, right? That’s the outcome. Like, you have to give the consumer a good, fair outcome. It’s not enough to just say, caveat emptor, I disclose, and if you do whatever you do, that’s on you, not on me. That’s not good enough. That’s fiduciary duty.
Rhonda:
James is right. The CFPB is holding companies’ feet to the fire to be responsible to the consumer while being able to demonstrate that the consumer is being treated fair.
Rhonda:
Now, let’s make a shift to training. We’re going to hear from Faraz Rana, who is a founding team member and former Chief Legal Officer at Bread and is the current Co-Founder and CEO of Affinity. Faraz is going to break down how important training and ongoing discussions with your team are when working to build a strong culture of compliance.
Faraz:
Training was a big part of building this culture of compliance for us at Bread. And I saw the impact of that from day one, sort of when I first joined, one of the first things I did was create a training program. And every new employee that would join, I would sit down with the cohort of employees who joined that quarter, sit down with them in a room for two hours and like go through all the trainings. And it wasn’t so much training, it was, hey, this is, you may not have worked at a fintech, you may not have seen what a bank partner is, or you may not know our regulations. Like here is all that context, right? It is a big part of what we are building, and here is all the information and the background information you need, so you feel like you are more part of the ecosystem.
Rhonda:
I couldn’t agree more with Faraz on this point. When your employees understand the important role that compliance has in maintaining a solid and reputable business, they carry that message with them and everyone wins. Training everyone to understand the vital role that they play in the success of the business is so critical and hopefully will solidify a strong culture of compliance.
Rhonda:
And finally, we are going to hear from PerformLine’s own Michael Gibney, who is the Director of Client Solutions. Mike is going to join us and break down the importance of having a RegTech solution in place as organizations expand their partnerships to ensure both compliance and brand protection.
Michael:
Imagine you’re a big bank that’s using technology for the first time to monitor maybe a new fintech network, or you’re monitoring your brand through, you know, a series of affiliates working from other, you know, working through other affiliates. Launching a platform that can not only make all the discoveries for you, but also like how do you quantify the risk on all of those new discoveries. Building out the rules on your own can be a heavy lift up front, but when you have rulebooks that are pre-curated by a technology like us and we’ve used AI to build them out, but they’ve been gone over and combed through by industry experts for the last 10 or 15 years, you can deploy those, you know, immediately with confidence that you now have a technology and a tool that’s gonna go out and find these things for you. But that you’ve got rules that you know, are gonna deliver quality observations that are actionable as well, right out of the gate. So you get to turn on your new technology and see value out of it from the very start.
Rhonda:
I always appreciate Mike’s commitment to ensuring he and his team take the time to understand our clients, so that they are able to build out rules that deliver immediate results, allowing them to have peace of mind that the technology is doing its part to support their marketing compliance process, while being able to take action to protect both the consumer and their brand.
Rhonda:
Once again, I would to thank you for listening and joining me today as we celebrate the second year of the COMPLY Podcast! I hope that you found today’s episode to be informative. It is always our goal to deliver useful information that will help you shape your compliance program. We are also always looking for show ideas and special guests, so if you ever want to connect, please feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn—I’d love to hear from you!
You can find additional resources, including links to the full podcast episodes for each of today’s guests and a link to connect with me on LinkedIn in today’s show notes.As always for the latest content on all things marketing compliance you can head to content.performline.com. And for the most up-to-date pieces of industry news, events, and content be sure to follow PerformLine on LinkedIn. Thank you for listening and we’ll see you next time!
