On 1/26/2022, the CFPB launched an initiative to save households billions of dollars a year by reducing exploitative junk fees charged by banks and financial companies. This initiative will give the public a chance to share their input in crafting the agency’s rulemaking and guidance agenda, as well as its enforcement priorities in the coming months and years.

On 1/21/2022, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council issued a statement announcing best practices for requesting examination information from supervised entities, and a common authentication solution for secure access to the FFIEC members’ supervision systems. According to FFIEC’s release, the statement presents the results of the final phase of the Examination Modernization Project in which its members addressed the feedback provided by supervised entities regarding examination requests and authentication requirements for its members’ supervision systems.

On 1/21/2022, the FDIC approved a final rule to simplify aspects of the agency’s deposit insurance coverage rules. In particular, deposit insurance coverage for deposits held in connection with irrevocable and revocable trusts is simplified by combining these two deposit insurance categories under one simpler and common calculation.

On 1/20/2022, the CFPB announced that it will begin examining the operations of post-secondary schools, such as for-profit colleges, that extend private loans directly to students. In line with this, the CFPB has updated its exam procedures to include a new section on institutional student loans.

On 1/20/2022, the Federal Reserve Board released a discussion paper that examines the pros and cons of a potential U.S. central bank digital currency, or CBDC. The Board invites comment from the public as the first step in a discussion of whether and how a CBDC could improve the safe and effective domestic payments system.

On 1/13/2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a press release that Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) has agreed to an order requiring substantial changes in the firm’s operations that will benefit small- and mid-sized businesses. This is in response to FTC’s charges that D&B engaged in deceptive and unfair practices by deceiving businesses about value of products and failing to correct errors on business credit reports.

On 1/14/2022, the CFPB announced that it has settled a lawsuit filed by the National Association of Consumer Advocates, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, and Professor Kathleen Engel. The lawsuit alleged that the Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law, a taskforce chartered by CFPB, did not comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). FACA is a "sunshine" law that seeks to ensure adequate transparency into agency advisory committees.

On 1/11/2022, the FDIC and FinCEN announced a Tech Sprint to develop solutions for financial institutions and regulators to help measure the effectiveness of digital identity proofing—the process used to collect, validate, and verify information about a person. FDIC's tech lab and FinCEN are collaborating to reduce fraud and other forms of identity-related crime, money laundering, and terrorist financing through the Tech Sprint. They also intend to increase customer confidence in digital banking services.