On January 14, 2021, the NCUA and CFPB announced the agencies have entered into a memorandum of understanding relating to their joint supervision of federally insured credit unions over $10 billion in assets. The MOU seeks to “improve coordination, cooperation, and efficiency generally, and to reduce the burden to institutions and examination staff” by proactively sharing information and coordinating on examinations.… Continue Reading

Two Democratic Senators have sent a letter to CFPB Director Kraninger and Education Secretary DeVos asking the regulators to explain what roadblocks are preventing the CFPB and ED from entering into a new memorandum of understanding to replace the MOU between the agencies that the ED terminated in 2017.

In their letter, the Senators indicated that the agencies have disagreed about the reason for the MOU’s termination and have provided conflicting information to Congress regarding the CFPB’s efforts to reestablish the MOU. … Continue Reading

The Department of Education (ED) has apparently declined a request by 39 members of Congress to reinstate the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between ED and the CFPB.  The members of Congress, including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking Democratic member Patty Murray, penned a September 14th letter just one week after CFPB Director Richard Cordray made a similar request.… Continue Reading

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray has responded to the letter from the Department of Education (ED) terminating the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between the agencies. ED’s August 31st letter—signed only by Kathleen Smith of the Office of Postsecondary Education and Dr. A. Wayne Johnson of Federal Student Aid—provided 30 days’ notice of the termination of two MOUs: a 2011 agreement providing collaboration to resolve student loan complaints and a 2014 agreement encouraging coordination of supervisory activities.… Continue Reading

The Department of Education (ED) recently delivered a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) providing notice of its intent to terminate the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between the agencies. The letter is highly critical of the CFPB. The sharp rebuke proclaims ED’s “full oversight responsibility of federal loans” and does not explicitly salvage any part of the agencies’ former cooperation.… Continue Reading

On December 6, 2012, the CFPB and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) executed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) aimed at strengthening their coordination in connection with fair lending investigations. The MOU also seeks to avoid duplication of the agencies’ respective enforcement efforts, particularly with regard to coordinating investigations of alleged violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”).… Continue Reading

A hearing entitled “How will the CFPB Function under Richard Cordray?” was held on January 24 by the House Subcommittee on TARP, Financial Services and Bailouts of Public and Private Programs. At that hearing, Mr. Cordray testified that Congress’s failure to amend 12 U.S.C. § 1828(x) to include the Bureau was an oversight and that he would be supportive of a legislative fix.… Continue Reading

As we reported in an earlier posting, it has taken considerable effort to locate the memoranda of understanding (MOUs) that the CFPB has put in place with various other federal agencies. More of those MOUs recently surfaced through, we believe, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. One of the newly uncovered MOUs is between CFPB and FinCEN and gives the CFPB direct electronic access to Bank Secrecy Act information collected in FinCEN’s Currency and Banking Retrieval System.… Continue Reading

In an earlier posting, my colleague Mercedes Tunstall reported on the CFPB’s announcement that prior to the designated transfer date (July 21, 2011), it had put in place memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with various other federal agencies. Mercedes also reported that to her dismay, she could not locate copies of those MOUs in any of the usual places such as the Federal Register.… Continue Reading

In my post dated August 8, 2011, I took the CFPB to task for saying in its recent Progress report that it had entered into a MOU with the FTC when it had not done so according to Joel Winston, Associate Director of the Division of Financial Practices. I recently learned that the CFPB has entered into a MOU with the FTC, HUD, and DOJ regarding fair lending issues, but that it has not entered into a MOU with the FTC covering broader enforcement issues. … Continue Reading