The State Government Affairs Committee of the American Financial Services Association recently published a white paper detailing how state regulators and attorneys general are beginning to use their new regulatory powers to bring actions against persons allegedly engaged in unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) in connection with financial products and services.

Officials highlighted the paper outlines the statute giving state officials the authority to regulate various areas of the financial services industry using the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Additionally, the paper outlines the newest element of UDAAP, the “abusive” standard.

The paper walks through several state enforcement actions, including those by regulators or attorneys general in Illinois, New Mexico and New York.

“Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act opened financial services companies to potentially more far-reaching enforcement actions by state attorneys general and state regulators,” AFSA said to close the white paper.

“To date, we are aware of six states that have used new tools afforded them under the act. How many states and how frequently states will use this authority is yet to be determined,” officials continued. “AFSA is committed to monitoring state UDAAP enforcement actions, as well as legislative and regulatory proposals concerning UDAAP issues.”

The complete white paper can be downloaded here.