The Lexis/Nexis-owned Law360 quoted Professor Jeff Sovern in an article headlined NY’s Use Of Dodd-Frank Will Inspire Other State Regulators. The article explained that the Dodd-Frank Act authorized state regulators to bring actions to enforce the statute’s prohibition on unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts or practices (so-called UDAAP statutes). According to the article:
While the extension of UDAAP authority to the states gives companies another potential foe to consider now, it could also serve as a backstop for consumer protection efforts in the future, said Jeff Sovern, a professor at St. John’s University School of Law.
Sovern, an advocate for consumer financial protection efforts, said that the granting of such rights to state regulators would be a check against moves like the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s George W. Bush-era declaration that state anti-predatory lending laws were inapplicable to national banks.
“If the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is ever captured by the financial industry, and so stops enforcing the Dodd-Frank Act, the states will be able to pick up the slack,” Sovern said.
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