Aspen Institute Seems to be Making Great Strides in Fixing Our Online Scams Problem
Release Date: 07/03/2025
Do Arbitrators Follow the Law? A New Study Provides Data, But the Debate Continues
Consumer Finance Monitor
Today’s episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor podcast is centered around a novel and thought-provoking article by David Horton, a professor of law at the University of California, Davis. The article, titled "Do Arbitrators Follow the Law? Evidence from Clause Construction," dives into the intriguing question of whether arbitrators render decisions that align with judicial rulings. Horton explores the longstanding debate on arbitration's adherence to legal standards, focusing on whether arbitrators have followed the Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela (2019) that...
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Student Lending Legislation and Litigation: 2025 Mid-Year Review
Consumer Finance Monitor
Today on our podcast, we’re releasing a repurposed recording of our July 23, 2025 webinar titled “Student Lending Legislation and Litigation: 2025 Mid-Year Review.” The webinar features esteemed partners John Culhane and Tom Burke, who dive into the intricacies of student lending litigation and regulatory developments. As a senior partner in the Consumer Financial Services Group, John Culhane shares his extensive knowledge on higher education finance, focusing on state legislation and private student loan litigation. Tom Burke, also a partner in the same group, brings his expertise in...
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The Legality of Trump’s Terminations Without Cause of Members and Commissioners of Federal “Independent” Agencies
Consumer Finance Monitor
Today’s episode of the Consumer Finance Monitor podcast offers an in-depth analysis of the unitary executive theory and its implications for terminations by President Trump of the Democratic members/commissioners of several so-called independent Federal agencies. The episode features Lev Menand, an associate professor of law at Columbia Law School, who provides expert insights into financial institutions and administrative law and the validity of the Trump terminations. Professor Menand discusses the theory that President Trump may exercise complete control over independent federal...
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Loper Bright Enterprises One Year Later: The Practical Impact on Business, Consumers and Federal Agencies
Consumer Finance Monitor
Our podcast show being released today commemorates the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Loper Bright Enterprises - the opinion in which the Court overturned the Chevron Deference Doctrine. The Chevron Deference Doctrine stems from the Supreme Court's 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. The decision basically held that if federal legislation is ambiguous the courts must defer to the regulatory agency's interpretation if the regulation is reasonable. My primary goal was to identify a person who would be universally considered one...
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The Hidden Costs of Financial Services: Consumer Complaints and Financial Restitution
Consumer Finance Monitor
We are releasing today a very interesting podcast show which is also breaking news. Before I read an article by Professor Charlotte Haendler of Southern Methodist University and Professor Rawley Z. Heimer of Arizona State University titled I never knew that the CFPB authorized outside third-parties access to non-public data collected about consumer complaints that it received so that those third-parties could conduct studies. Professors Haendler and Heimer used that data to determine the demographics of complainants who received the most restitution versus the demographics of those who...
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Legislating for the Future
Consumer Finance Monitor
The podcast show we are releasing today features Professor Jonathan Gould of University of California (Berkeley) Law School who discusses his recent article co-written with Professor Rory Van Loo of Boston University School of Law which was recently published in the University of Chicago Law Review titled . The introduction of the article describes “legislating for the future” as follows: Public policy must address threats that will manifest in the future. Legislation enacted today affects the severity of tomorrow’s harms arising from biotechnology, climate change, and artificial...
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Can the President Remove Governors of Federal Independent Agencies Without Cause?
Consumer Finance Monitor
The podcast show we are releasing this week focuses generally on the so-called “Unitary Executive Theory” and specifically on the legality of President Trump firing without cause the Democratic Commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission and the members of other independent agencies, despite language in the governing statutes that prohibit the President from firing a member without cause and a 1935 Supreme Court opinion in Humphrey’s Executor holding that the firing of an FTC Commissioner by the President is unlawful if done without cause. Our guest is Patrick Sobkowski who teaches...
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Aspen Institute Seems to be Making Great Strides in Fixing Our Online Scams Problem
Consumer Finance Monitor
The genesis of the podcast show we are releasing today was an article written by Nick Bourke titled “” published on April 12, 2025 in Open Banker. We learned from that article about the great work being done by Aspen Institute’s National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention. The purpose of the podcast is to describe the work of this Task Force The Aspen Institute states the following about the Task Force: Every day, criminals steal $430 million from American families, with total fraud proceeds reaching $158 billion annually. They are a critical funding source for transnational...
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What is Happening at the Federal Agencies That is Relevant to the Residential Mortgage and Settlement Service Industries
Consumer Finance Monitor
We are releasing today on our podcast show a repurposed webinar that we produced on June 11, 2025 entitled “What is happening at the federal agencies that is relevant to the residential mortgage and settlement service industries.” During this podcast, we will inform you about recent developments at federal agencies, including the CFPB, HUD/FHA, OCC, FDIC, FRB and USDA (collectively, the “Agencies”), as well as Congress, the White House, states and the courts. Some of the issues we consider are: • Changes in leadership and priorities at the CFPB, as...
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The Impact of the Newly Established Priorities and Massive Proposed Reduction in Force (RIF) on CFPB Enforcement (Part 2)
Consumer Finance Monitor
Our podcast show being released today is Part 2 of our two-part series featuring two former CFPB senior officers who were key employees in the Enforcement Division under prior directors: Eric Halperin and Craig Cowie. Eric Halperin served as the Enforcement Director at the CFPB from 2010 until former Director, Rohit Chopra, was terminated by President Trump. Craig Cowie was an enforcement attorney at the CFPB from July 2012 until April 2015 and then Assistant Litigation Deputy at the CFPB until June 2018. of our two-part series was released last Thursday, June 12. The purpose of these...
info_outlineThe genesis of the podcast show we are releasing today was an article written by Nick Bourke titled “America Can Fix Its Scam Problem. But We Keep Gifting Billions to Transnational Criminals Because It Feels Too Hard” published on April 12, 2025 in Open Banker. We learned from that article about the great work being done by Aspen Institute’s National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention. The purpose of the podcast is to describe the work of this Task Force
The Aspen Institute states the following about the Task Force:
Every day, criminals steal $430 million from American families, with total fraud proceeds reaching $158 billion annually. They are a critical funding source for transnational criminal organizations, fueling drug cartels, human trafficking, and terrorism.
Fraud losses reported to the FBI increased 15-fold over roughly the last decade, and the rise of new technologies like AI has made scams more sophisticated and easier to perpetuate to harm American families.
The Aspen Institute Financial Security Program launched the National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention in 2024 to develop the first coordinated U.S. national strategy aimed at stopping financial fraud at its root.
The guiding purpose of the Task Force is to bring together all parties with an interest in protecting consumers and restoring trust in our financial system. This is the first time such a broad collection of leaders from across government, law enforcement, private industry, and civil society are coming together to develop a nationwide strategy aimed at helping prevent fraud and scams.
Our guests on this podcast are: Kate Griffin, Director of Programs, Aspen Institute Financial Security Program and Nick Bourke, Senior Policy Adviser, The Aspen Institute.
Our guests covered the following topics:
1. What is the Aspen Institute's Financial Security Program and how did the Aspen Institute come to launch the National Task Force on Fraud and Scam Prevention? Who is participating in the Task Force? Why is such a cross-sector (industry, consumer advocates and government) very important? What is standing in the way of more robust, secure, cross-sector data-sharing today?
2. How big is the fraud and scams problem in the United States right now? How has it changed over time?
3. What are some of the implications of this problem? How should we be thinking about this beyond the consumer-level financial impacts? Where is all this money going, and what does that mean for our national security? How do fraud/scams compare to other forms of organized crime? Why is it so difficult for victims to recover their financial losses? Are there any efforts ongoing in Congress to alleviate this? Despite all the anti-fraud measures, educational resources, and even public media coverage, why do scammers still seem to be gaining ground? What are some of the biggest gaps or weaknesses in the U.S. system that scammers exploit? Are there promising models from other countries or sectors the U.S. can learn from? How is AI changing the landscape of scams — both in how they’re perpetrated and how we might stop them?
4. What's the right balance between imposing duties on companies and offering legal safe harbors so they're not afraid to act?
5. Some people still feel a stigma around sharing when they have been the victim of a scam. How do we shift the environment away from victim-blaming and toward support?
6. The Task Force is driving toward developing a "national strategy" for fighting fraud and scams. What are some of the necessary components to make this truly effective? What do you mean by the need for a "national front door for reporting”?
7. Consumer education has to continue playing a role here. What kinds of public awareness campaigns or interventions have proven effective? What kinds of leadership or investment are needed from Congress, the White House, or federal agencies?
8. Are there any incentives that could better align corporate interests around fraud and scam prevention? Are there examples of companies that are leading the way on this issue?
9. What are the Task Force's next steps? When should we expect to hear more about the national strategy that's coming together?
Alan Kaplinsky, founder of and former Chair for 25 years of the Consumer Financial Services Group, hosted the podcast show.