On March 19, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit published its decision in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. National Collegiate Student Loan Trust, et al. The Third Circuit held that (1) the fifteen appellant trusts are “covered persons” subject to the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s (“CFPA”) enforcement authority because they “engage” in a known consumer financial product or service and (2) the CFPB did not need to ratify this action before the statute of limitations had run out because of a constitutional deficiency within the agency.

This decision runs counter to the position taken by SFA in in our amicus brief, which argued that trusts are not covered persons under the CFPA.

SFA is currently analyzing the court’s decision and will be holding a call with the NCSLT task force to share takeaways from the decision, as well as to discuss potential actions in the wake of the court’s ruling. If you would like to join this task force, or have further questions, please contact [email protected].