What Is Lending? What Is Not Lending? Does Anyone Care?

October 23, 2025

Read Time: 1 min

Aaron Kouhoupt and Robert Savoie will lead a panel examining the laws defining what constitutes “lending” and how they are not as straightforward as they seem during McGlinchey’s 24th Annual Consumer Finance Legal Conference on October 23, 2025. The answer can carry significant regulatory, compliance, and litigation consequences.

Aaron and Robert will examine how federal and state regulators interpret lending activity, how new legislation creates products expressly excluded from consumer lending laws, where novel business models push the boundaries, and why the question matters for financial institutions, FinTechs, and service providers alike. Panelists will also explore conflicts between federal and state law, enforcement priorities, and the practical implications for structuring compliant consumer finance products.

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Insights

News Release

McGlinchey, Barringer, Kouhoupt, Savoie Honored in 2026 Chambers FinTech Guide

December 4, 2025

McGlinchey Stafford is pleased to announce the national recognition of its FinTech practice and of three Members, Jeffrey Barringer (Albany), Aaron Kouhoupt (Cleveland), and Robert Savoie (Cleveland), in the 2026 Chambers FinTech Guide.

Presentation

AI-Driven Financial Products: Fair Lending, Compliance, and Consumer Protection in Consumer Finance

September 30, 2025

Member Aaron Kouhoupt will present a Deep Dive Round Table at the AI-Native Banking and Fintech Conference on "AI-Driven Financial Products: Fair Lending, Compliance, and Consumer Protection in Consumer Finance," hosted by Spring Labs, at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, on September 30, 2025.

Deep Dive into Consumer Finance

Podcast: Deep Dive into Unsecured Lending

August 25, 2025

The next episode in McGlinchey’s Deep Dive into Lending series takes a close look at unsecured lending with insights from Aaron Kouhoupt and Adam Maarec. They discuss innovations in loan applications, underwriting, and customer interactions, and then explore the other side of the equation: what today’s consumers expect from lenders and creditors.

Event

Deep Dive into Lending: Unsecured Lending Webinar

August 13, 2025

In this next installment of our Deep Dives into Lending series, McGlinchey attorneys Aaron Kouhoupt, Jim Sandy, and Robert Savoie will examine the latest developments shaping the space, with an eye toward both compliance and litigation trends in this interactive webinar.

Deep Dive into Consumer Finance

Introduction: A Deep Dive into Lending

August 12, 2025

Hear from Aaron Kouhoupt (Cleveland), McGlinchey’s Chief Privacy Officer and a Member of our Financial Institutions Compliance Team, as he discusses this fascinating and vibrant subject matter while giving you a breakdown of the content you can expect in the coming weeks.

Presentation

A Review of the United States and California Supreme Courts’ 2024-2025 Cases Impacting the Banking and Lending Industries

July 15, 2025

Of Counsel Sanford Shatz will present "OCBA Banking & Lending Section Meeting" at the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) Banking & Lending Section Meeting on July 15, 2025.

California’s New Banking and Lending Laws and Legislation

March 10, 2025

Attorneys Christopher Greenidge and Sanford Shatz will co-present "California's New Banking and Lending Laws and Legislation" at the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) Banking & Lending Section Meeting on March 10, 2025.