Congress Overrides the OCC’s True Lender Rule: What Are the Risks for Banks and Their Loan Program Nonbank Partners?

The OCC’s true lender rule was intended to create a bright line test for when a national bank or federal savings association should be considered the “true lender” in the context of third party partnerships but Congress overturned the rule. After reviewing the relevant background, we examine the Congressional override’s implications for future federal true lender rulemaking and its impact on existing law, key federal and state court challenges and decisions, state legislative and administrative developments, and risk mitigants for bank/nonbank partnerships, including potential loan program structures.

Alan Kaplinsky, Ballard Spahr Senior Counsel, hosts the conversation, joined by Jeremy Rosenblum and Ron Vaske, partners in the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Group, and Mindy Harris, Of Counsel in the Group.