The CFPB's Arbitration Rule: The Road Ahead

Abstract

In May 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it intended to exercise its authority under the Dodd-Frank Act to bar consumer financial companies from invoking pre-dispute arbitration agreements to block consumer class actions. This comment considers the most serious threats to the Bureau's arbitration rule and concludes that its prospects are bad. Under Trump, banks and credit card companies will continue to avoid class-action litigation by mandating individual arbitration and there is little that supporters of the Bureau's rule can do about it.