June 2024 - cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Is Making Enemies in All the Right Places
by Gunnar Larson 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

https://wallstreetonparade.com/2024/06/the-consumer-financial-protection-bu… By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: June 6, 2024 ~ Fresh off a big win at the U.S. Supreme Court on May 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is wasting no time in its heady pursuit of financial bad actors preying on the little guy. On Monday, the federal agency announced it was creating a public registry to help law enforcement, investors and the public check the history of repeat offenders in finance. The CFPB already offers consumers who have been victimized by a financial firm the ability to file a public complaint with the CFPB. The agency then quickly demands a written response from the alleged wrongdoer. Repeat offenders dislike the fact that these complaints go into a permanent database at the CFPB, which can be mined by the public, reporters, attorneys and prosecutors looking for patterns of fraud. (For how Wall Street On Parade put that complaint database to good use, read our report: The Apple Credit Card Provided through Goldman Sachs Has Created a Living Hell According to Consumer Complaints.) On Tuesday, the CFPB released a circular letting financial firms know that if they sneak deceptive and/or illegal terms into the fine print of their consumer contracts they risk getting an enforcement action from the CFPB. One example cited was the Truth in Lending Act, which prohibits fine print in mortgage contracts that purport to force homeowners into mandatory arbitration (claiming to remove the option of a court proceeding) to deal with a mortgage dispute. The Supreme Court case in May, where the independent funding of the CFPB was under attack by multiple forces hostile to a gutsy federal consumer protection agency, was just the latest in a long series of attempts to kill the CFPB since its creation under the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation of 2010. Back in 2015, a political front group called the American Action Network launched a $500,000 ad campaign against the CFPB during the Republican presidential debate. The campaign outrageously attempted to cast the CFPB as a communist organization. One ad featured giant banners hanging from a front wall with the faces of then CFPB Director, Richard Cordray, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, who had been instrumental in creating the agency — in a nod to Soviet dictator images. The advertisement was a masterpiece of misinformation, overtly suggesting that the job of the CFPB is to deny car loans and mortgages to regular folks seeking credit. The agency, in fact, has zero involvement with approving credit applications. Its job is to root out and punish financial institutions that are ripping off customers. Just four months before the ad campaign was unveiled, the recidivist bank, Citigroup, was ordered by the CFPB to reimburse an estimated $700 million to 7 million of its credit card customers for deceptive marketing and billing for services that were never provided. The mysterious American Action Network (AAN) behind the deceptive ad campaign is a dark money group that has battled at the Federal Election Commission and in federal courts to keep its dark money donors a secret from the American people. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has been fighting to open AAN’s dark secrets to some public sunshine for more than a decade. In a brief filed with the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on July 28, 2023, CREW wrote as follows: “Over the past thirteen years, AAN has spent more than $150 million to influence federal elections while depriving Americans of knowledge about ‘[t]he sources of [their] candidate’s financial support’… AAN’s patronage, which only grows, has placed benefitted officials ‘in the pocket’ of the ‘moneyed interests’ that they know fund AAN while evading public accountability.”

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Chinese Fund Asks To Nix Doc Bid In $830M Transaction Row
by Gunnar Larson 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

Chinese Fund Asks To Nix Doc Bid In $830M Transaction Row <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/1843601?nl_pk=6422bbc2-a823-4be5-9a9…> By Joyce Hanson A Chinese healthcare investment fund has asked a New York federal court to toss a Hong Kong medical fund's subpoena request seeking information in a foreign case stemming from a stymied $830 million transaction, saying the discovery bid isn't allowed for the private arbitration. 2 documents attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/1843601?nl_pk=6422bbc2-a823-4be5-9a9…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/health/articles/1843601?nl_pk=6422bbc2-a823-4be5-9a9…>

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After Judge Takes Trip To Israel, Attys Want Him Off Gaza Case
by Gunnar Larson 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

After Judge Takes Trip To Israel, Attys Want Him Off Gaza Case <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1844619?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…> By Cara Bayles Palestinian rights activists asked a Ninth Circuit judge to recuse himself from a case claiming that the Biden administration flouted international laws barring genocide by supporting Israel's military efforts in Gaza, noting that the judge recently took a trip to Israel sponsored by the World Jewish Congress. 2 documents attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1844619?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/competition/articles/1844619?nl_pk=6416fd97-1dc4-4e0…>

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Rimini's Oracle IP Defense Was Wrongly Barred, 9th Circ. Told
by Gunnar Larson 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

Rimini's Oracle IP Defense Was Wrongly Barred, 9th Circ. Told <https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1844650?nl_pk=2bd720dd-746c-4744…> By Dorothy Atkins Rimini Street and its owner urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to vacate an injunction blocking it from copying Oracle's software in their 14-year battle over Rimini's software patches, arguing that the lower court erroneously tossed certain infringement defenses that "should have been in the case all along" and made other errors. Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1844650?nl_pk=2bd720dd-746c-4744…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1844650?nl_pk=2bd720dd-746c-4744…>

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Texas Tamale Co. Wins Partial Injunction In Trademark Case
by Gunnar Larson 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

Texas Tamale Co. Wins Partial Injunction In Trademark Case <https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1844271?nl_pk=2bd720dd-746c-4744…> By Adam Lidgett A Texas federal magistrate judge has found that a Fort Worth tamale outfit called Texas Lone Star Tamales can't use certain phrases in its advertising but limited some language in a requested injunction. Memorandum attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1844271?nl_pk=2bd720dd-746c-4744…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/technology/articles/1844271?nl_pk=2bd720dd-746c-4744…>

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Nigeria Holding US Binance Exec Hostage, Lawmakers Say
by Gunnar Larson 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

Nigeria Holding US Binance Exec Hostage, Lawmakers Say <https://www.law360.com/fintech/articles/1844588?nl_pk=d2b3e7ef-ab62-4a62-80…> By Kevin Pinner The White House's hostage negotiator should begin seeking the release of a top executive at cryptocurrency exchange Binance whom the Nigerian government is holding personally liable for tax evasion charges against the company, the House Foreign Affairs Committee's chairman has said. 3 documents attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/fintech/articles/1844588?nl_pk=d2b3e7ef-ab62-4a62-80…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/fintech/articles/1844588?nl_pk=d2b3e7ef-ab62-4a62-80…>

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Texas To Launch Stock Exchange Backed By $120M Capital
by Gunnar Larson 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

Texas To Launch Stock Exchange Backed By $120M Capital <https://www.law360.com/capitalmarkets/articles/1844436?nl_pk=abe82add-2a33-…> By Tom Zanki TXSE Group Inc. said Wednesday it plans to launch the Texas Stock Exchange, a national trading venue for public companies and exchange-traded products, following a $120 million private capital raise that was guided by Haynes and Boone LLP. Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/capitalmarkets/articles/1844436?nl_pk=abe82add-2a33-…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/capitalmarkets/articles/1844436?nl_pk=abe82add-2a33-…>

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Wells Fargo Sued For Allegedly Aiding $300M Ponzi Scheme
by Gunnar Larson 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

Wells Fargo Sued For Allegedly Aiding $300M Ponzi Scheme <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/1844578?nl_pk=feb6bbba-7878-4d39-be…> By Katryna Perera Wells Fargo Bank NA has been hit with a proposed class action in Florida federal court alleging that it aided and abetted a $300 million Ponzi scheme that duped more than 1,000 investors, most of whom were elderly and lost substantial life savings due to the scheme. Complaint attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/1844578?nl_pk=feb6bbba-7878-4d39-be…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/banking/articles/1844578?nl_pk=feb6bbba-7878-4d39-be…>

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Meta Can't Dodge Trial In Monopoly Suit, FTC Says
by Gunnar Larson 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

Meta Can't Dodge Trial In Monopoly Suit, FTC Says <https://www.law360.com/mergersacquisitions/articles/1844463?nl_pk=a34c25b5-…> By Ali Sullivan The Federal Trade Commission said "voluminous evidence" cuts against Meta's bid to avoid trial over claims the social media giant illegally entrenched its monopoly in the market for personal social networking by acquiring WhatsApp and Instagram. Motion attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/mergersacquisitions/articles/1844463?nl_pk=a34c25b5-…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/mergersacquisitions/articles/1844463?nl_pk=a34c25b5-…>

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Microsoft Failing To Protect Students' Data, EU Watchdog Told
by Gunnar Larson 06 Jun '24

06 Jun '24

Microsoft Failing To Protect Students' Data, EU Watchdog Told <https://www.law360.com/cybersecurity-privacy/articles/1844116?nl_pk=3dfd2fd…> By Allison Grande A prominent Austrian advocacy group is urging the country's data protection authority to take a closer look at how Microsoft is protecting children's personal information, arguing the tech giant is unfairly trying to "shift" its responsibility under European Union privacy law to the schools that use its educational software and is secretly tracking minors' online activities. 2 documents attached | Read full article » <https://www.law360.com/cybersecurity-privacy/articles/1844116?nl_pk=3dfd2fd…> | Save to favorites » <https://www.law360.com/cybersecurity-privacy/articles/1844116?nl_pk=3dfd2fd…>

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