State Attorneys General: The New Financial Regulators?

With the Trump administration pushing to curtail the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s authority, a critical question emerges: Will state attorneys general step up to fill the gap? The financial services industry faces growing uncertainty, making it more important than ever to understand the shifting regulatory landscape.

Webinar

We were joined by Winston’s D.C.-based Government Investigations, Enforcement, and Compliance partners for an exclusive panel discussion with a top D.C. political strategist, Ian Mandel, who specializes in state-level politics. See below for key takeaways.

• Historically, Democratic AGs have scored political points by targeting certain industries, such as the financial services industry. As a consumer-protection regulatory gap emerges, some state AGs will likely take leading roles to fill the gap and will likely look to the same industry targets. 
• We expect states like New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois to be active in bringing securities and consumer-protection investigations and enforcement actions.
• Multistate coordination by state AGs is also likely because it is an easy way for state AGs to achieve common goals at reduced cost to individual states. 
• State AGs from both political parties appear to have interest in preventing “debanking” based on religion, viewpoints, or political affiliation.

This webinar is strictly dedicated to providing information on potential state regulatory action and in no way indicates an affiliation with any political party or elected officials.

Client ALert

On February 21, 2025, state attorneys general filed an amicus brief in support of the National Treasury Employees Union’s legal challenge to the Trump administration’s virtual shutdown of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Read more here and view our recently published article.