Finance
State treasurers push CFPB on third-party financial data access rule
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., on his bill to eliminate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Elon Musks directive to federal workers over documenting work, Congress budget reconciliation process and his political future.
A dozen state financial officers are writing to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to uphold consumers’ right to share financial data with authorized third parties as the agency weighs a rule that could restrict their ability to do so, according to a letter exclusively reviewed by FOX Business.
The CFPB is considering revising a regulation under section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which would revise the definition of a “representative” who makes a request on behalf of the consumer, as well as how to assess fees to cover costs incurred by a covered person responding to a customer request.
Twelve state financial officers — including nine treasurers, two auditors and one controller — wrote in favor of the rule recognizing consumer-authorized third parties as “representatives” while preserving existing authorization and conduct requirements.
They wrote that Section 1033 gives consumers a right to access their financial information upon request and that the rule includes agents, trustees or representatives acting on their behalf, including those who aren’t fiduciaries, upon the consumer’s authorization, which is the “touchstone” of the process that needs to be preserved.
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A dozen state financial officers are arguing for the CFPB to preserve the ability of consumers to authorize non-fiduciary representatives to access their data. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“Preserving this interpretation promotes competition and innovation (including for real-time payments, budgeting tools, alternative credit assessment, AI, and crypto) and it reduces the risks of debanking and market concentration,” the financial officers wrote.
“In contrast, narrowing ‘representative’ would harm consumers by reducing choice and entrenching incumbents — outcomes counter to Section 1033’s competitive purpose,” they explained.
The group of state financial officers wrote that the CFPB should affirm the text of the rule by clarifying that a consumer-authorized third-party qualifies as a representative acting on their behalf.
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The CFPB’s proposed rule is revising regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
They also wrote the definition of “representative” shouldn’t be limited to fiduciary relationships as it’s not required by the text and would “unduly restrict consumer choice.”
“Consumers should be able to exercise their Section 1033 rights directly or through an authorized representative of their choosing. A text-faithful interpretation of ‘representative’ sustains competition and innovation and reduces risks of debanking and market concentration,” the state financial officers explained.
State financial officers who signed onto the letter include Kansas Treasurer Steven Johnson, Kentucky Treasurer Mark Metcalf, Mississippi Treasurer David McRae, Nebraska Auditor Mike Foley, Nebraska Treasurer Tom Briese, Nevada Controller Andy Matthews, North Dakota Treasurer Thomas Beadle, Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague, South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis, Utah Auditor Tina Cannon, Utah Treasurer Marlo Oaks and Wyoming Treasurer Curt Meier.
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The state financial officers want to ensure consumers can authorize a third party to look at their financial data. (Yuki Iwamura/AFP via Getty Images)
The public comment period for the CFPB’s rule closed on Tuesday night and the rule attracted nearly 14,000 comments.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., sent a letter to the CFPB in support of open banking policies as the agency considers the rule, while consumer groups have also weighed in.
“Major financial institutions are attempting to consolidate their power and maintain monopolistic control over consumer data,” Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, said in a statement.
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“If these major banks are allowed to continue to control access to consumer data, they will have even greater leverage to punish Americans for their beliefs and to coerce compliance with their radical left-wing ideology.”
A girl from a disadvantaged rural family in central China topped this year’s gaokao, attracting numerous live-streamers eager to finance her education, which she declined.
The home of 18-year-old secondary school graduate Han Yaping in a Henan province village was recently bustling with live-streamers.
This attention came after Han achieved an impressive score of 699 out of 750 in the gaokao, China’s national college entrance exam.
She has received offers from China’s two leading universities, Tsinghua University and Peking University.
Han’s accomplishment is particularly remarkable given her family’s impoverished circumstances.
Her mother suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory arthritis affecting the spine, preventing her from working. Her father, who earns a living through farming and odd jobs, serves as the family’s sole provider. Han also has a younger sister.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a landmark review on Monday that proposes recommendations to regulate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the financial decisions made by consumers.
The review, titled the Mills Review, anticipates that both consumers and firms will start delegating “more financial decision-making to AI systems,” including for agreements, initiating transactions, and executing decisions “within agreed parameters.” One of the key findings of the review outlined that while AI can help bridge advice gaps and “support growth,” there remain risks “associated with fraud, cyber security, and consumer harm.” Conducting the review, Sheldon Mills highlighted that “AI can also amplify risks: bias, discrimination, exclusion, opaque decision-making (particularly when multiple AI models interact), misleading or hallucinatory advice and erosion of consumer trust.”
The review stated that presently, one in five adults in the UK are “already open to AI making decisions for them,” particularly when decisions feel “complex or high stakes.” It found that roughly 26 percent of the population “trust general-purpose tools such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for financial advice” with little awareness that such platforms provide no “formal routes to recourse” or protections.
Overall, the Mills Review identified four areas that it anticipates will be impacted by AI in the financial sector: “the transformation of firms,” “new consumer journeys,” “a reshaped competition landscape,” and “amplified financial crime and cyber risk.” The FCA projected the shift in how consumers and firms consult AI to take place by 2030.
The Mills Review put forth seven “priority” recommendations to be considered by the FCA Board. It recommended that any transitions to autonomous AI models be monitored and that regulatory frameworks and perimeters be adapted and secured. The review called for the strengthening of “system-wide coordination and oversight,” the scaling up of the FCA’s AI Lab to enable it to support AI models and innovation for agentic finance, and an “AI-enabled agentic supervisory model” to be built and adopted. Finally, it recommended that a trusted “public-interest AI-enabled financial capability service” be developed.
The FCA announced, in the press release, that it will launch an AI “good and poor practice publication” in late 2026.
Finance
Fayette County Public Schools Board of Education approves audit contract, new finance director position
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – The Fayette County Public Schools Board of Education approved a one-year audit contract capped at $131,750 plus $225 per hour during a virtual meeting Monday, along with a new finance director job description.
The contract is with Mauldin & Jenkins Certified Public Accountants, an Atlanta-based firm, and covers the 2025-26 fiscal year and the restatement of the 2024-25 fiscal year and ancillary services through FY 2029-2030. The work is set to be completed by Nov. 15.
The board approved the contract in a 5-0 vote.
Audit contract details
Interim Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch said the cost is already accounted for in the district’s budget.
“And is actually less than we expected given our current situation — we were thrilled with the bid,” Koch said.
Koch said she believes this is Mauldin & Jenkins’ first school district audit in Kentucky, but that the firm works with school districts of more than 100,000 students throughout the Southeast.
“Quite frankly when I spoke to the folks at KDE they were thrilled because we’re running kind of short of auditors who want to do school district audits — so all around I think this was a win-win for everyone,” Koch said.
New finance director position
The board also approved a new job description for the position of Director of Finance. Acting Superintendent Dr. Bill Bradford said the title will replace two associate director positions.
“Which will not only save the school district money but it’s also going to streamline our work and align internal controls to make room for a more efficient unit,” Bradford said.
Koch said the position will be posted as soon as possible following the board’s approval.
Closed session
The board went into closed session for more than an hour to discuss pending investigations that could lead to employee discipline. When the board returned, it took no action and adjourned the meeting.
Copyright 2026 WKYT. All rights reserved.
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