CreditSlips

Apple Pay and the CFPB

09/10/14

Apple Pay has been getting a lot of attention, and I hope to do a longer post on it, but for now let me highlight one possible issue that does not seem to have gotten any attention. I think Apple may have just become a regulated financial institution, unwittingly. Basically, I think Apple is now a "service provider" for purposes of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, which means Apple is subject to CFPB examination and UDAAP. 

Here's the argument. Be warned:  this is a romp through some legal definitions. 

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Isis Wallet Mobile Payments

09/09/14

One of the competitors in the Great Mobile Payments Race is changing its name. Isis Wallet, a mobile payments joint venture of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile is changing its name to Softcard for fairly obvious reasons. Isis Wallet operates by having the consumer store his/her payment card information on a "secure element"--tech speak for a tamper resistant chip that safely stores encrypted information.

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Now Might Be the Time for the Longest Pending Catholic Diocese Chapter 11 Case to Settle

09/07/14

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is one of 11 dioceses (plus 2 other Catholic-affiliated religious orders) to file under Chapter 11 -- and it likely will not be the last. All of the cases were filed in hopes of achieving global settlements of sexual abuse claims. The Milwaukee Archdiocese filed over 3.5 years ago, in January 2011, making it the longest running Diocese case.

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Is Housing Such a Bad Investment? Maybe Not...

09/04/14

One of the post-bubble conventional wisdom stories that has gotten a lot of traction is that housing is a bad investment and that consumers would do better to rent and invest in the stock market.  The problem is that it's wrong.

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Contract Exuberance

09/02/14

Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead! We have a contract fix against holdouts in sovereign debt restructuring. Here are my two cents on the proposed reforms, as of last Friday. Bottom line is way positive. In my admittedly biased opinion, this is unusually meaningful change.

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Single-Point-of-Entry: No Bank Left Behind

08/31/14

Last December the FDIC put out for comment a proposal for a Single-Point-of-Entry (SPOE) Strategy to implement its Orderly Liquidation Authority (OLA) under Title II of Dodd-Frank. Single-Point-of-Entry has gotten a lot of policy traction. The Treasury Secretary supports it and there’s huge buy-in from Wall Street.

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With a whole lot more

08/28/14

Thoughts on cramdown and "make whole" call provisions, over at Dealb%k.

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