The CFPB, OCC, Federal Reserve, FDIC, and NCUA have issued a proposed rule on the role of supervisory guidance.

In September 2018, the agencies issued an “Interagency Statement Clarifying the Role of Supervisory Guidance.”  In response to the Statement, the agencies received a petition requesting a formal rulemaking on the subject. … Continue Reading

The CFPB published a policy statement in today’s Federal Register to announce that, going forward, it is establishing a new “Compliance Aids” designation for certain Bureau guidance.  The policy statement becomes applicable on February 1, 2020.

In the Supplementary Information accompanying the Policy Statement, the Bureau gives examples of compliance resources it has previously released.  … Continue Reading

On July 31, 2019, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC“) released OCC Bulletin 2019-40 (the “Bulletin”) detailing guidelines for national banks, federal savings associations and federal branches of foreign banking organizations subject to the Community Reinvestment Act (the “CRA”) requesting designation as a wholesale or limited purpose bank under the CRA or otherwise requesting confirmation as a special purpose bank pursuant to CRA regulations.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued a new small entity compliance guide: “Payday, Vehicle Title and High-Cost Installment Lending Rule: Payment-Related Provisions.”

The CFPB has proposed to revise its final payday/auto title/high-rate installment loan rule to rescind the rule’s ability-to-repay (ATR) provisions in their entirety and to delay the compliance date for the ATR provisions until November 19, 2020. … Continue Reading

The American Bankers Association and the Bank Policy Institute have sent a letter to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Fed) to petition the Fed to engage in rulemaking to clarify the Fed’s September 2018 “Interagency Statement Clarifying the Role of Supervisory Guidance” (the “Interagency Statement”). … Continue Reading

Republican Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, has sent letters to six agencies asking them to issue and publish statements concerning the effect and use of “agency statements-for example, guidance documents, supervisory letters or examination manuals—that have not gone through notice and comment rulemaking.”  One such letter was sent to the Federal Reserve Board and the other letter was sent to the FDIC, NCUA, SEC, OCC and CFPB.… Continue Reading

We previously reported that Congress might have the opportunity to disapprove the CFPB’s disparate impact theory of assignee liability for so-called auto dealer “markup” disparities because the CFPB Bulletin describing its theory was determined by the General Accountability Office (GAO) to be a “rule” subject to override under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). … Continue Reading

The CFPB has issued a request for information that seeks comment on its guidance and implementation support.  Comments on the RFI must be received by July 2, 2018.

The RFI lists the following areas of interest on which commenters may want to focus input:

  • Through its “Regulatory Inquiries Function,” the CFPB “assists individual inquirers who have specific questions about the Bureau’s statutes and regulations.” 
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Politico has reported that Republican Senator Jerry Moran has introduced a resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn the CFPB’s 2013 auto finance guidance.

The guidance is set forth in CFPB Bulletin 2013-02, titled “Indirect Auto Lending and Compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act” (Bulletin).  In December 2017, in response to a request from Senator Pat Toomey, the GAO issued a decision concluding that the Bulletin is a “rule” subject to the CRA.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has created a new online form for obtaining informal staff guidance on questions about CFPB regulations.  A link to the new form appears on the CFPB’s website on the “Compliance and guidance” page.

It is unclear whether the new form is intended to replace the email address and phone number previously given by the CFPB for regulatory questions (CFPB_reginquiries@cfpb.gov;… Continue Reading