A growing trend impacting the availability of credit to consumers and small businesses is the ability of banks and, in particular, community banks to expand access to credit through partnerships with third-party fintech providers.
This is the result of actions taken by some courts and state regulators to look past the actual, legal rights and responsibilities with respect to a loan transaction and instead examine facts and circumstances beyond the scope of the actual loan. These decisions upend the reasonable commercial expectations of all the participants in the loan transaction process and threaten to discourage banks and fintech providers from entering into partnerships with one another.
Against this backdrop, the OCC recently announced a proposed rule designed to provide uniform standards to determine whether a bank or the bank’s partner is the “true lender” in a particular credit transaction. In conjunction with the OCC’s recently finalized Valid When Made regulation to address issues raised in the Madden v. Midland Funding, LLC case, this should encourage innovation in the lending space and increase access to credit.
Join LEND360 for this free webinar on Thursday, August 20 at 4:15 PM ET for a discussion of this most recent policy initiative, how it will impact current bank third party vendor agreements, and new opportunities for fintech companies to team with banks.
Moderator:
– Michael Day, Policy Director, Online Lenders Alliance
Panelists:
– Karen Solomon, Senior Of Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP
– James Stevens, Partner, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP
