Daniel Nestel

It is safe to say that Las Vegas casinos will not soon be taking bets on the occurrence of future finance policy developments. It is an area where too many internal and external forces can influence progress and final outcomes.  However, as we start a new year, I am compelled to dust off my crystal ball and see if I can provide some clarity (sans any wagering) on…

Since the November elections, much of the talk here in Washington, D.C. has been on preparing for a divided Congress. While many believe that the partisan divide will grow in 2019, this does not mean that all bank-related public policy proposals will be stuck in neutral. In fact, when it comes to regulatory reforms promulgated by federal agencies, there could be some…

It’s August and it’s hot in Washington DC.  Yet in the nation’s capital, fintech policy may actually be hotter than the temperatures outside.  Much of the latest buzz has come from the recently released Treasury report which focuses largely on the Trump administration’s outlook for financial innovation. This document is the fourth in a series of reports in response to…

If you are a fan of the Bachelor reality TV series, you know that the most anticipated episode of the season is the one after the bachelor has awarded his last rose to the woman of his dreams (or so he hopes).  The After the Final Rose show is intended to provide the inside scoop – the essential takeaways – from what has been a dozen episodes filled with zigs and zags…

Last year, my regulatory predictions offered little suspense. The winds of change were howling and it was clear that the New Year would be dramatically different than previous ones for those in the U.S. financial services industry. The surprise election of Donald Trump led to a 180-degree course correction of the regulatory agenda that bankers and compliance professio…

The election of a new administration along with leadership changes at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provided new hope for a broad group of industry and nonprofit organizations who have long been advocating for changes to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The TCPA reform effort is expected to commence after the United States Court of Appeals f…

As a result of several recent policy developments, talk of achieving meaningful US financial regulatory reform is getting louder. The passage in the House of the Republican-backed Financial CHOICE Act of 2017 (Choice Act), the ongoing federal agency activity in response to a number of regulatory reform-related Executive Orders by President Trump, and the positive resu…

Update: The CFPB has extended the public comment deadline. Comments are now due by September 14. On May 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking to learn more about the small business lending market.  If you are scratching your head as to why the CFPB is delving into small business lending, you are not alone.…

In my 2017 regulatory predictions post last month, I concluded by saying that the new year would be very different for the financial services industry than 2016. This certainly didn’t take long to come to fruition. In the first two weeks of the new administration, President Trump took several steps aimed at slowing down as well as scaling back current and future regul…

Last fall, I suspect that most regulatory compliance professionals in the U.S. consumer lending market anticipated 2017 would be more of the same. This meant a continued focus on implementation of recently adopted rules, while bracing for a wave of new regulations from the federal banking agencies. Everything changed on November 8. The unexpected election of Donald Tr…

These days, cybersecurity is a hot-button issue in policy circles. Look no further than the US presidential debates, where our two candidates have highlighted the need to address hackers, security breaches and even foreign nations that may be using sophisticated cyber tactics to influence the outcome of the upcoming November elections. The pressure to get policies and…