Regulation

Worldwide Asset Management, a debt-buying unit of West Asset Management, agreed to pay an $85,000 penalty and change its business practices as part of a settlement with Maryland regulators, the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said Thursday.

New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced criminal charges against an individual who allegedly ran a collection agency while incarcerated in federal prison on unrelated charges.

After a brutal 21-hour legislative session ending in the early morning hours of June 25, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd thought regulatory reform was finally finished.

New York collection attorneys Peter T. Roach & Associates P.C., a “Creditor’s Rights” firm in Syosset, N.Y., announced a victory for their client, mortgage lender HSBC Bank USA.

One of the telemarketers responsible for millions of illegal auto warranty robocalls to consumers last year will pay approximately $2.3 million, give up his Mercedes and be barred from telemarketing, under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The settlement concludes the FTC's case against the operation.

New federal rules regulating fees and expiration dates for all gift cards went into effect Sunday, whether the cards are sold by a merchant, shopping center, credit union or bank.

A debt collector based in Wayzata, Minn. who allegedly told a consumer "I will hunt you down like a dog" was ordered by the Minnesota Department of Commerce to cease operations in the state, according to a report by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel sued a pair of companies and their owner last week for allegedly marketing illegal payday loans online to consumers in the state.

Maryland regulators officially revoked the collection licenses of defunct law firm Mann Bracken LLP, seven months after issuing a cease and desist order and suspending the firm's licenses. Mann Bracken closed in January, see story, and up to 25,000 collection lawsuits were dismissed. The firm went into receivership in February.

The largest U.S. card issuers could lose more than $2 billion annually in debit card-related revenues from the combination of new regulations cutting into overdraft fees and pending debit-interchange regulation, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research.