Court denies open banking briefs
A federal judge has denied motions from five organizations that had sought to file amicus briefs in the legal battle between banks and financial technology companies over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's open banking rule.
The Financial Data and Technology Association of North America, along with four other groups, asked District Judge Danny Reeves for permission Monday to file its brief supporting the Financial Technology Association's June 29 motion for summary judgment backing the rule. Three nonprofits — Consumer Reports, the Financial Health Network and SaverLife — had also requested permission to file briefs supporting the FTA's position.
Reeves, who sits in Lexington, Kentucky, said Tuesday that additional information from FDATA isn't necessary and wouldn't help him 'in resolving doubtful legal issues in the case.' Reeves also denied a brief from Public Citizen, a public advocacy organization, saying that the FTA had covered its same arguments.
The rule stems from Section 1033 of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and was enacted after years of deliberations.
The Bank Policy Institute, which represents most of the big U.S. banks, and the Kentucky Bankers Association brought the lawsuit against the CFPB last October, along with Kentucky-based Forcht Bank, immediately after the rule was finalized the same month.
In May, Reeves allowed the FTA, which represents fintech players such as Block, Intuit and Stripe, to intervene in the case to defend its members' interests. The bureau, which shifted its position on the rule after the installation of new leaders by the Trump administration, filed a brief urging Reeves to void the rule.
In their joint filing last week, Consumer Reports, FHN and SaverLife said they 'approach the issues in this case through a somewhat different lens than any of the parties' because all three 'seek to advance financial inclusion and consumers' financial well-being.'
FDATA represents about 30 fintechs such as the processor Fiserv and software firm Plaid, according to its website. The association's brief, which it posted online, argues that the CFPB's final rule from October 2024, under the prior Biden administration, hewed closely to the language Congress adopted in the 2010 law.
'We stand firm in our view that when Congress enacted Section 1033, it clearly intended for consumers to have the right to securely share their financial data with third parties of their choice — and that perspective remains central to deploying open banking in the United States,' FDATA Executive Director Steve Boms said Tuesday by email, replying to a request for comment on the judge's decision.
Like the FTA's argument, FDATA said that lawmakers were clear in their language in Section 1033 about letting consumers empower their own authorized representatives to gain access to financial information.
Open banking supporters say Congress sought to inject competition into the financial services industry via the law, allowing fintech startups to compete with banks and credit unions.
'The pinched view of Section 1033 pressed by the Plaintiffs and the CFPB cannot be reconciled with the statute or any sound view of statutory purpose,' FDATA said in its brief. 'Why would Congress have enacted a mandate, with the CFPB empowered to issue rules, that achieved nothing beyond the sort of individual-consumer access to account information that was already universally available at the time of enactment?'
The Trump administration has dramatically reduced the CFPB's mission and staffing under Acting Director Russell Vought, who is also the director of the Office of Management and Budget.
In its proposed brief, Public Citizen said the bureau's effort to win summary judgment against itself 'appears to be a procedural innovation unprecedented in the annals of federal law.'
'Amicus has been unable to find any other instance of such a motion, and the agency's litigation posture raises serious concerns about its compliance with the fundamental requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act,' the nonprofit organization said in its brief, which was filed Monday in the court docket.
The agency is 'attempting to repeal the rule without undertaking the steps required by the APA,' according to Public Citizen, 'and to insulate its decision to do so from subsequent judicial review.' That legal effort represents 'procedural gamesmanship' and should be sufficient reason for Reeves to deny the bureau's motion for summary judgment, according to the brief.
Recommended Reading
Open banking to survive Trump, fintechs say
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
12 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
This robot uses Japanese tradition and AI for sashimi that lasts longer and is more humane
A local startup is using artificial intelligence and robotics in an unlikely way: making sashimi and other fish dishes taste better, last longer and more humane. El Segundo-based Shinkei Systems wants to bring a traditional Japanese method of handling fish to fine dining in America, using technology to replace the labor-intensive process historically handled by practitioners on board ships. Investors have just bet millions that it will succeed. The company's AI-driven robot — called Poseidon — has been designed to do a traditional form of fish handling called ikejime in Japanese. It is a method of killing fish that enthusiasts say enhances flavor, texture and shelf life. Although fish processed in this way is found in some of the best restaurants in Japan, it hasn't been promoted in the U.S. because it is generally too expensive. Automating the process will make it more readily available to Americans, said Saif Khawaja, the company's chief executive. 'My end goal is that you're walking into your local grocery store and can buy fish that lasts three times as long, tastes better and is handled humanely,' he said. The company raised $22 million in a funding round last month, co-led by Founders Fund and Interlagos, bringing total funding to $30 million since its inception. It has four Poseidons working on ships in the Pacific and Atlantic and hopes to have 10 more working in the coming year. The ikejime process involves taking live fish that has just been caught and quickly putting them out of their misery by killing them with a spike through the brain and cutting their gills. This stops the stress hormone and lactic acid buildup that can hurt flavor and texture when fish are left to asphyxiate. Although traditional practitioners sometimes add a step in which the spinal cord is destroyed, Poseidon just does the first steps of the ikejime technique. The method has remained largely artisanal even in Japan, where only some fishermen will make the effort to process batches of fish in this way to sell to specific sushi chefs who are obsessed with having the highest-quality ingredients. Even in Japan, the method, 'is still too labor-intensive to replicate at a high speed without damaging the fish,' Khawaja said, adding that, 'It's impractical and unsustainable for fishermen to adopt methods that require significant hands-on work,' in the U.S. Shinkei says it also has a higher calling than just better-tasting fish. Khawaja said one of the motivations for developing the technology was to try to find a kinder, gentler way to kill fish than letting them die gasping for air. During childhood fishing trips with his father in the Red Sea, he remembers it being 'very hard to watch' fish suffocating after they were caught. While he was in graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, Khawaja was moved by an essay that argued that fish suffer inhumane deaths because they cannot vocalize pain. He even once considered developing sensors to make fish's pain audible. Shinkei provides Poseidon machines to fishermen, who then sell fish processed through the machines back to Shinkei at a premium. Shinkei in turn sells the fish to restaurants and other retailers underits fish company Seremoni. Poseidon is roughly refrigerator-sized and sits on fishing boat decks. It processes fish within seconds of being caught. The fish is fed through an opening in the machine and into a small vinyl cavity. The machine then uses AI to identify what kind of fish it is and where exactly its brain and gills are. Fish emerge with a hole in the head and incisions near the gills before being placed in an ice slurry for blood drainage. Quickly killing the fish, bleeding it and chilling it without freezing leads to fish that is noticeably better, Khawaja said. 'There's going to be a flavor profile difference and there's going to be texture profile difference,' he said. The company chose Los Angeles for its headquarters and production because it has the right mix of potential employees as well as customers. It has the mechanical engineering talent as well as a major fishing fleet and lots of high-end restaurants. 'The best mechanical engineering talent in the world, in my opinion, is in Southern California,' said Seremoni co-founder Reed Ginsberg. The city is also a major health and consumer products hub as well as a trend setter for cutting-edge food fads. Chef Michael Cimarusti, co-owner of the Michelin starred Providence restaurant in Los Angeles, says he tries to buy local ikejime fish when he can because it preserves the quality and color. The fish preserved using ikejime look as if they 'were just pulled from the water minutes ago,' he said in an interview posted on YouTube by the American Fishing Tackle Co. Shinkei currently processes thousands of pounds weekly across operations in Washington, Central California and Massachusetts, with expansion to Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico planned this year. After feedback from fishermen that the bots took up too much deck space, the company is developing 'Block 2' robots this year that will have roughly half the footprint while processing fish twice as fast. Currently, black cod and black sea bass processed through Poseidon are sold under Shinkei's brand Seremoni at retailers such as Happier Grocery and served at upscale restaurants including Atomix and Sushi Zo. This summer, the company plans to add salmon and red snapper to its offerings.
Los Angeles Times
12 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
In a digital age, old-fashioned watchmaking schools, including a new one from Rolex, are in demand
Ever since watches began bringing order to the ephemeral passage of time, they also started doing something else: breaking. Own one long enough and something will probably go wrong. It'll run slow. Or fast. Or stop altogether. Decades ago, watch repair shops across the country were staffed with technicians who could service almost any mechanical timepiece when its intricate innards — tiny gears, wheels and springs — failed. But when the U.S. watchmaking industry declined in the mid-20th century, the number of craftspeople who could fix or fabricate timepieces began dwindling too. There were 1,880 U.S. watch and clock repairers in 2023, down from 2,430 just three years earlier, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That 23% decline, on top of previous losses, has led some in this niche industry to label the situation a workforce crisis. It comes amid renewed interest in mechanical timepieces and a modest rebirth of the American watchmaking industry — despite the omnipresence of cellphones and their effortless timekeeping. Rolex, the Swiss behemoth, alone makes more than 1 million watches a year. Who will be able to service all of them as they age? Or make the new ones being dreamed up? A dearth of new watchmaking schools — where students learn about repairs, fabrication or both — is central to the problem. After the closure of several programs in recent decades, only four full-time, independent watchmaking schools remain in the U.S. One watch company, Torrance-based J.N. Shapiro Watches — maker of the $70,000 Resurgence model — is among the handful of U.S.-based firms that has struggled to hire watchmakers. Rolex has a solution on the repair side. In September, the Geneva-based company debuted a new watchmaking school at the Rolex Watch Training Center in Dallas. The program's 18-month curriculum is focused on training students to service watches made by the brand. The last six months of schooling include an immersion component in which students repair Rolex timekeepers under the supervision of instructors. Upon graduation, participants can work for a Rolex-affiliated jeweler or for the company itself. Most of the school's first class, which graduates next February, have already secured jobs, a Rolex spokesperson said. They can expect annual salaries starting in the range of $75,000 to $85,000, depending on location. The school is free. The company spokesperson said in a statement that the Dallas program, which welcomes just 27 students per class, represents the company's 'commitment at a larger scale to meet the industry demand.' Rolex's focus on training watchmakers to work solely on its timepieces differentiates its program from independent schools, which typically teach students how to work on all sorts of watches, turning out graduates with expertise in subjects including micro-mechanics and repairs. 'I think we need a balance of technicians and then more full-service watchmakers,' said Tony Traina, who publishes Unpolished Watches, an industry newsletter. 'The way in which the profession is evolving right now — it seems like we're headed in that direction. There are the Shapiros of the world, along with the Rolexes of the world. I think we'll reach an equilibrium.' Rolex opened a more traditional watchmaking school in the U.S. in 2001 — the Lititz Watch Technicum in Pennsylvania, but closed it after its final class graduated this month. The Rolex school in Dallas is in high demand, with 400 applicants for its inaugural class and 560 more for the second one starting in September. Among the applicants, the spokesperson said, were Texans who'd initially been surprised that fixing watches could be 'a viable career with an established educational track.' The average student age among the first two classes is 28; some have been admitted straight out of high school and others have a college degree. Students have backgrounds in areas such as engineering and accounting, and have had careers as musicians, teachers and communications professionals. As head of an independent watch company, Joshua Shapiro said it was extremely difficult to find the six watchmakers who now work for him in Torrance. 'It took a lot of networking,' said Shapiro, who added that his team was assembled over several years, and that three of his watchmakers came from the Lititz school. One of those watchmakers is Spencer Torok, 25, who graduated from Lititz three years ago. After high school, the Hilliard, Ohio, native attended Ohio Dominican University, where he took accounting classes. But Torok realized during the COVID-19 pandemic that he wanted to make a change. He'd long been interested in watches, he said, and enrolled at Lititz. Torok said that the schooling only stoked his passion — and that he would never have gotten hired by Shapiro if not for the education he received at Lititz. 'No way,' he said with a laugh. 'It takes a lot of resources to train someone.' Some American watch companies have had to go abroad to make hires. Cameron Weiss, whose eponymous watch company was founded in L.A. in 2013 and later moved to Nashville, said he had to turn to Switzerland to recruit a watchmaker. 'I'd been looking for someone with that skill level for the last 12 years,' said Weiss. This month Weiss traveled again to Switzerland to scout for workers. He hopes the Rolex program in Dallas will help invigorate watch education in the U.S. One of the last remaining full-service watchmaking schools in America is at Paris Junior College in Texas. Program coordinator Garrin Fraze, 24, graduated from it in 2019. He was enticed back last year by a former instructor, who asked him to take over. 'Because we are independent, we have a little bit of openness in the curriculum,' said Fraze, who also serves as head instructor of the program. Like the Rolex school in Dallas, the Paris program is small, accommodating about 20 students. But Fraze hopes to expand it — he knows how strong demand is for watchmakers, including those who can repair Rolexes. After his graduation from the Paris program, he got a job as the in-house watchmaker of a Fort Worth jeweler. It was an authorized Rolex dealer.
Business Wire
12 minutes ago
- Business Wire
Esri, Microsoft, and Space42 Join to Launch 'Map Africa Initiative'
REDLANDS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Space42 and Microsoft to support the Map Africa Initiative. The effort is a five-year endeavor to produce the most comprehensive basemap of Africa to date. The initiative will deliver high-resolution, scalable geospatial data across all 54 African countries with the goal to benefit more than 1.4 billion people. Many of Africa's official maps are fragmented, outdated, or hard to access, leaving governments and businesses to make major decisions with inaccurate or incomplete data. This has led to challenges in infrastructure development, as well as investment and institutional gaps. This joint initiative between Esri, Space42, and Microsoft was formalized in early July at the 2025 Esri User Conference in San Diego, California. The collaboration aims to increase institutional capacity for African nations by providing locally managed geospatial data and enabling smarter decision-making for governments, businesses, and communities. "We are proud to support the Map Africa Initiative in partnership with Space42,' said Jack Dangermond, Esri president. 'Transforming satellite imagery into detailed, accurate base maps at continental scale requires advanced geospatial technology and professional production workflows. These same capabilities have supported similar national and regional mapping efforts around the world. With Map Africa, we are helping to establish a foundational resource that will drive infrastructure planning, economic growth, and sustainable development across the continent." Space42, a UAE-based AI and space technology company, will lead fundraising efforts and project management, in addition to providing satellite data. Esri will orchestrate basemap production workflows with its GeoAI and remote sensing capabilities, while also supporting regional hubs to train local teams and build long-term capacity. Microsoft will provide the secure cloud infrastructure and AI framework through Azure to support data processing, sharing, and integration at scale. 'Partnership is core to the UAE's DNA and is central to how Space42 operates,' said Hasan Al Hosani, CEO of Smart Solutions at Space42. 'This collaboration with Microsoft and Esri is more than technical; it's strategic. It advances Space42's business priorities, strengthens our role as a trusted partner to governments, and delivers meaningful benefits to communities across Africa. Accurate, high-quality mapping and the intelligence solutions built on it are essential for growth, resilience, and inclusive innovation. With reliable data, communities and economies prosper.' The initiative is expected to unlock long-term value across multiple sectors, including: Ports and logistics : Enhanced terrain and infrastructure mapping will improve route planning and reduce inefficiencies. : Enhanced terrain and infrastructure mapping will improve route planning and reduce inefficiencies. Renewable energy : Site selection models will optimize solar and wind deployment. : Site selection models will optimize solar and wind deployment. Security and disaster response : Governments will gain tools to monitor borders, manage resources, and coordinate emergency responses. : Governments will gain tools to monitor borders, manage resources, and coordinate emergency responses. Smart cities and digital economies: Accurate maps will support urban planning, public services, and technology deployment. Map Africa data will be licensed to national governments, enabling ownership and long-term updating by National Mapping Agencies. Over time, the initiative will also support a new commercial ecosystem of African startups. The data will eventually be housed in G42 and Microsoft-managed data centers across the continent. To learn more about Esri's role in the Map Africa Initiative, visit About Esri Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, helps customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969 in Redlands, California, USA, Esri software is deployed in hundreds of thousands of organizations globally, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, nonprofit institutions, and universities. Esri has regional offices, international distributors, and partners providing local support in over 100 countries on six continents. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial technology and analytics, Esri engineers the most innovative solutions that leverage a geographic approach to solving some of the world's most complex problems by placing them in the crucial context of location. Visit us at Copyright © 2025 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, ArcGIS, The Science of Where, and @ are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners. About Space42 Space42 (ADX: SPACE42) is a UAE-based AI-powered SpaceTech company that integrates satellite communications, geospatial analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities to enlighten the Earth from space. Formed in 2024 by the successful merger of Bayanat and Yahsat, Space42's global reach allows it to address the rapidly evolving needs of its customers in governments, enterprises, and communities. Space42 comprises two business units: Space Services and Smart Solutions. Space Services focuses on upstream satellite operations for both fixed and mobile satellite services. Smart Solutions integrates geospatial data acquisition and processing with AI to inform decision-making, enhance situational awareness, and improve operational efficiency. Major shareholders include G42, Mubadala, and IHC. For more information, visit: follow us on X: @space42ai
