On February 26, Jonathan Pompan published “When Regulation Steps Back, Judgment Steps Forward,” in the Dow Jones Risk Journal. The following is an excerpt:
For much of the last decade, consumer financial services compliance was defined by proximity to a single federal actor. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shaped priorities, set expectations through supervision and enforcement, and exerted gravitational pull across the industry. That model no longer holds. In 2026, the CFPB is mostly dormant. While the statutory landscape remains, the center of regulatory gravity has shifted. Enforcement risk has not disappeared; it has dispersed—across the FTC, state regulators and Attorneys General, and private litigants.
For entrepreneurial companies, this moment creates significant opportunity. For the strategic lawyer and compliance professionals, the mandate is no longer to act as a “redlight” to avoid regulatory scrutiny, but to help businesses price and manage the risks of moving fast.
Click here to access the article.