Understanding How The FTC Can Enforce Against Financial Institutions

Laboring in the shadow of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") since 2011, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") has been an important component of Federal law enforcement efforts to ensure that the nation's financial institutions are complying with consumer financial protection laws.

While the CFPB is suffering at the hands of the new administration, in 2025 the FTC has continued to bring cases against financial institutions, including student loan debt relief companies, payment processors, debt collectors and cash advance companies. Most of these cases rely upon Section 5 of the FTC Act, which forbids unfair or deceptive acts or practices ("UDAP"), instead of alleging violations of the enumerated consumer financial services laws and their regulations that have specific requirements for financial institutions, including Regulation Z (implements the Truth In Lending Act) and Regulation E (implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act).