CFPB Updates its Rulemaking Agenda
by: Anna DeSimone
December 3, 1013 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) posted a semi-annual update to its Rulemaking Agenda. A summary of the CFPB announcement is provided below:
The fall 2013 agenda reflects that the CFPB is continuing to work on rulemakings mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act and significant issues in other major markets for consumer financial products and services.
In the past year the CFPB issued rules to implement Dodd-Frank Act requirements and other significant reforms concerning mortgage originations, servicing, and most recently, the federal disclosures that consumers receive shortly after application and shortly before closing.
In 2014 the CFPB will begin work on some follow-up mortgage issues, such as how to apply certain exemptions under the Dodd-Frank Act that are designed to preserve credit in “rural or underserved” areas.
The Bureau plans to also work on a proposed rule to implement Dodd-Frank Act changes to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which will improve the mortgage data that is available to monitor the market and assess fair lending practices.
In addition, the agenda reflects that they are planning to move forward with a proposed rule with respect to prepaid card products. It also reflects that they are actively assessing the need for regulations in other markets for consumer financial products and services, particularly debt collection, payday loans and deposit advance products, and bank overdraft programs.
The Bureau has been gathering significant information on these topics through previous white papers and other research, requests for comment and advanced notices of proposed rulemaking (including a current request for comment on debt collection practices), and other outreach.
The Bureau will intensify work on these projects in 2014, for instance by testing consumer disclosures in connection with prepaid products and debt collection.
The CFPB is returning to a topic that had been raised as part of an earlier initiative to seek comment on ways to streamline and modernize regulations that we had inherited from other agencies. Specifically, they expect to issue a proposal regarding the notices that consumers receive each year from their financial institutions to explain the companies’ information sharing practices.
A number of commenters had suggested that it would be helpful to reduce unwanted paperwork for consumers and unnecessary regulatory burdens, at least where a financial institution limits the sharing of information with third-parties and has not changed policies.
The CFPB continues its research, analysis, and outreach on a number of other consumer financial services markets, and will update its next semi-annual agenda to reflect the results of further prioritization and planning.
About the Author
Anna DeSimone is President and Founder of Bankers Advisory, Inc. She can be reached at anna@bankersadvisory.com
Anna DeSimone founded Bankers Advisory in 1986 and is a nationally recognized authority in residential mortgage lending. She has received numerous industry awards and has authored more than 40 best practices guides and hundreds of articles.
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