In the News Today – February 9, 2017

CFPB Signals Regulation of Litigation Funding Industry: The “genius of the litigation funding business was that it fell between regulatory cracks,” writes Reuter’s Alison Frankel. That is now changing, as the industry has grown at least 11 states have adopted laws regulating some aspects of the funding business and now the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is  “investigating the industry and intends to rein in excesses.” (Reuters)

House Judiciary Committee Passes Bill to End Slush Funds: The House Judiciary Committee voted this week to pass H.R. 5063, which sponsors say would end a long-standing strategy to funnel money from enforcement actions into donations to third party groups. “As we said in 2016, passage of the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act signals the Executive Branch is not allowed to play appropriator and decide which groups should receive money recovered from settlements from major financial institutions,” said South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy. (Palmetto Business Daily)