On Thursday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a massive $175 million settlement with Block, the publicly traded financial conglomerate led by Jack Dorsey. The government agency argued that one of Block's portfolio companies, the leading peer-to-peer payments service Cash App, had allowed rampant fraud while misleading its customers. The settlement includes customer refunds up to $120 million.
The action comes in the waning days of the Biden administration, whose regulators took an aggressive pro-consumer approach in the financial sector, often to the chagrin of business leaders and tech investors. The CFPB's settlement is the latest in a string of high-profile lawsuits brought by the agency.
