[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 112 (Monday, June 11, 2018)]
[Unknown Section]
[Pages 27234-27236]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-11229]
[[Page 27233]]
Vol. 83
Monday,
No. 112
June 11, 2018
Part XXII
Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection
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Semiannual Regulatory Agenda
Federal Register / Vol. 83 , No. 112 / Monday, June 11, 2018 /
Unified Agenda
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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION
12 CFR CH. X
Semiannual Regulatory Agenda
AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
ACTION: Semiannual regulatory agenda.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is
publishing this agenda as part of the Spring 2018 Unified Agenda of
Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The Bureau reasonably
anticipates having the regulatory matters identified below under
consideration during the period from May 1, 2018, to April 30, 2019.
The next agenda will be published in fall 2018 and will update this
agenda through fall 2019. Publication of this agenda is in accordance
with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
DATES: This information is current as of March 15, 2018.
ADDRESSES: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 1700 G Street NW,
Washington, DC 20552.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A staff contact is included for each
regulatory item listed herein. If you require this document in an
alternative electronic format, please contact
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau is publishing its spring 2018
Agenda as part of the Spring 2018 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory
and Deregulatory Actions, which is coordinated by the Office of
Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866. The agenda lists the
regulatory matters that the Bureau reasonably anticipates having under
consideration during the period from May 1, 2018, to April 30, 2019, as
described further below.\1\ The Bureau's participation in the Unified
Agenda is voluntary. The complete Unified Agenda is available to the
public at the following website: http://www.reginfo.gov.
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\1\ The listing does not include certain routine, frequent, or
administrative matters. Further, certain of the information fields
for the listing are not applicable to independent regulatory
agencies, including the CFPB, and, accordingly, the CFPB has
indicated responses of ``no'' for such fields.
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Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act, Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (Dodd-Frank Act),
the Bureau has rulemaking, supervisory, enforcement, and other
authorities relating to consumer financial products and services. These
authorities include the authority to issue regulations under more than
a dozen Federal consumer financial laws, which transferred to the
Bureau from seven Federal agencies on July 21, 2011. The Bureau's
general purpose, as specified in section 1021 of the Dodd-Frank Act, is
to implement and enforce Federal consumer financial law consistently
for the purpose of ensuring that all consumers have access to markets
for consumer financial products and services and that markets for
consumer financial products and services are fair, transparent, and
competitive.
The Bureau is working on various initiatives to address issues in
markets for consumer financial products and services that are not
reflected in this notice because the Unified Agenda is limited to
rulemaking activities. Section 1021 of the Dodd-Frank Act specifies the
objectives of the Bureau, including ensuring that consumers are
provided with timely and understandable information to make responsible
decisions about financial transactions; that consumers are protected
from unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices and from
discrimination; that outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome
regulations are regularly identified and addressed in order to reduce
unwarranted regulatory burden; that Federal consumer financial law is
enforced consistently without regard to the status of a person as a
depository institution in order to promote fair competition; and that
markets for consumer financial products and services operate
transparently and efficiently to facilitate access and innovation.
The Bureau is under interim leadership pending the appointment and
confirmation of a permanent director. In light of this status, Bureau
leadership is prioritizing during coming months (a) Meeting specific
statutory responsibilities; (b) continuing selected rulemakings that
were already underway; and (c) reconsidering two regulations issued
under the prior leadership. Those projects are described further below.
The Bureau's Acting Director has decided to reclassify as ``inactive''
certain other rulemakings that had been listed in previous editions of
the Bureau's Unified Agenda in the expectation that final decisions on
whether and when to proceed with such projects will be made by the
Bureau's next permanent director. This change in designation is not
intended to signal a substantive decision on the merits of the
projects. For similar reasons, and also in light of general directions
by the Office of Management and Budget with regard to agencies'
inclusion or exclusion of longer-term items, the Bureau has designated
as ``inactive'' several items that were listed as potential long-term
projects in the fall 2017 Unified Agenda.
The Bureau has recently launched a ``call for evidence'' to ensure
that the Bureau is fulfilling its proper and appropriate functions to
best protect consumers. As part of that initiative, the Bureau is
seeking public feedback with respect to the regulations that the Bureau
inherited from other agencies as well as regulations that the Bureau
has adopted. In addition, the Bureau is in the process of assessing the
effectiveness of three rules pursuant to section 1022(d) of the Dodd-
Frank Act, and, as part of those assessments, has solicited and
received public comment on recommendations for modifying, expanding, or
eliminating those significant rules. In developing future regulatory
agendas, the Bureau will carefully consider the feedback received
through the call for evidence and the assessment project to identify
areas in which rulemaking may be appropriate to achieve the Bureau's
strategic goals and objectives.
Implementing Statutory Directives
Much of the Bureau's rulemaking work is focusing on implementing
directives mandated in the Dodd-Frank Act and other statutes. As part
of these rulemakings, the Bureau is working to achieve the consumer
protection objectives of the statutes while minimizing regulatory
burden on financial services providers and facilitating a smooth
implementation process for both industry and consumers.
For example, the Bureau is conducting follow-up rulemakings as
warranted to address issues that have arisen during the process of
implementing various mortgage requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act.
The Bureau recently issued a final rule to address certain narrow
issues concerning the timing of providing mortgage servicing statements
to consumers in bankruptcy. It also expects in May 2018, to issue a
final rule to amend regulations that implement a Dodd-Frank Act
requirement to consolidate various disclosures that consumers receive
under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and Truth in
Lending Act (TILA) when applying for and closing a mortgage loan.
Specifically, the follow-up rule addresses when a creditor may compare
charges paid by or imposed on the consumer to amounts disclosed on a
Closing Disclosure, instead of a Loan Estimate, to determine if an
estimated
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closing cost was disclosed in good faith and if an increase may
therefore be passed on to the consumer. The broader consolidated
disclosures rule is the cornerstone of the Bureau's broader ``Know
Before You Owe'' mortgage initiative.
The Bureau is also working to implement section 1071 of the Dodd-
Frank Act, which amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require
financial institutions to collect, report, and make public certain
information concerning credit applications made by women-owned,
minority-owned, and small businesses. This rulemaking could provide
important information about how these businesses--which are critical
engines for economic growth--access credit. In 2017, the Bureau
released a white paper summarizing preliminary research on the small
business lending market and held a public hearing to gather feedback on
related issues. The Bureau also issued a Request for Information
seeking public comment on, among other things, the types of credit
products offered and the types of data currently collected by lenders
in this market and the potential complexity of, cost of, and privacy
issues related to, small business data collection. The information
received will help the Bureau determine how to implement the rule
efficiently while minimizing burdens on lenders.
Continuation of Other Rulemakings
The Bureau is also continuing certain other rulemakings to ensure
that markets for consumer financial products and services operate
transparently and efficiently and to address potential unwarranted
regulatory burdens.
For example, the Bureau has engaged in research and pre-rulemaking
activities regarding the debt collection market, which continues to be
a top source of complaints to the Bureau. The Bureau has also received
encouragement from industry to engage in rulemaking to resolve
conflicts in case law and address issues of concern under the Fair Debt
Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), such as the application of the FDCPA
to modern communication technologies under the 40-year-old statute. The
Bureau released an outline of proposals under consideration in July
2016, concerning practices by companies that are debt collectors under
the FDCPA, in advance of convening a panel in August 2016, under the
Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act in conjunction with
the Office of Management and Budget and the Small Business
Administration's Chief Counsel for Advocacy to consult with
representatives of small businesses that might be affected by the
rulemaking. The Bureau is preparing a proposed rule focused on FDCPA
collectors that may address such issues as communication practices and
consumer disclosures.
The Bureau also announced in spring 2017, that it had launched the
first in what it expects to be the first in a series of reviews of
existing regulations that it inherited from other agencies through the
transfer of authorities under the Dodd-Frank Act.\2\ The Bureau expects
to focus its initial review on subparts B and G of Regulation Z, which
implement the Truth in Lending Act with respect to open-end credit
generally and credit cards in particular. For instance, the Bureau
expects to consider adjusting rules concerning the database of credit
card agreements that it is required to maintain under the Credit Card
Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act) to
reduce burden on issuers that submit credit card agreements to the
Bureau and make the database more useful for consumers and the general
public. The Bureau expects to identify other opportunities to clarify
ambiguities, address developments in the marketplace, and modernize or
streamline the open-end credit provisions. Because of timing and
resource considerations, the Bureau has reclassified the project as a
long-term action. As noted above, the Bureau has also issued two
Requests for Information seeking feedback on other potential revisions
to both rules that the Bureau inherited from other Federal regulators
and rules that the Bureau has issued over time, and may identify other
projects for future regulatory agendas after reviewing the responses.
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\2\ As noted in previous agendas, the Bureau had previously
sought feedback on the inherited rules as a whole and identified and
executed several burden reduction projects from that undertaking.
See 76 FR 75825 (Dec. 5, 2011); see also 79 FR 64057 (Oct. 28,
2014); 78 FR 25818 (May 3, 2013); 78 FR 18221 (Mar. 26, 2013). The
Bureau believed the next logical step was to review individual
regulations--or portions of large regulations--in more detail to
identify opportunities to clarify ambiguities, address developments
in the marketplace, or modernize or streamline provisions. The
Bureau noted that other Federal financial services regulators have
engaged in these types of reviews over time, and viewed such an
initiative as a natural complement to its work to facilitate
implementation of new regulations. See 83 FR 1968 (Jan. 12, 2018).
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As noted above, Bureau leadership has decided to reclassify as
``inactive'' certain other projects that had been listed in previous
editions of the Bureau's Unified Agenda in the expectation that final
decisions on whether and when to proceed with such rulemakings will be
made by the Bureau's next permanent director. These projects include
potential rulemakings regarding overdraft programs on checking accounts
and to exercise the Bureau's authority, pursuant to section 1024 of the
Dodd-Frank Act, to supervise certain non-depository institutions that
offer personal loans by defining larger participants in that market.\3\
The decision to classify such projects as inactive is not intended as a
decision on the merits.
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\3\ Section 1024 of the Dodd-Frank Act authorizes the Bureau to
supervise ``larger participants'' of markets for various consumer
financial products and services as defined by Bureau rule. The
Bureau had previously announced that it was preparing to conduct a
rulemaking to define larger participants in the market for personal
loans, including consumer installment loans and vehicle title loans,
and considering whether rules to require registration of these or
other non-depository lenders would facilitate supervision. The
Bureau believes that further consideration of these issues should be
postponed pending reconsideration of the Bureau's 2017 rule
concerning payday, vehicle title, and certain high-cost installment
loans as discussed further below.
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Reconsideration of Previous Rules
The Bureau announced in December 2017, that it intends to open a
rulemaking to reconsider various aspects of a 2015 final rule that
amended regulations implementing the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The
reconsideration could involve such issues as the institutional and
transactional coverage tests and the rule's discretionary data points.
The Bureau also expects the rulemaking to follow up on its action in
August 2017, to amend Regulation C to increase the threshold for
collecting and reporting data with respect to open-end lines of credit
for a period of 2 years so that financial institutions originating
fewer than 500 open-end lines of credit in either of the preceding 2
years would not be required to begin collecting such data until January
1, 2020. The Bureau indicated at the time of that initial rulemaking
that it intended to conduct follow-up rulemaking in that interim period
to consider whether to make permanent adjustments to the open-end
threshold.
The Bureau also announced in January 2018, that it intends to
engage in a rulemaking to reconsider a 2017 rule titled Payday, Vehicle
Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans. Most provisions of that
rule would not require compliance until August 2019. The Bureau also
noted that it will entertain requests to waive the application deadline
for preliminary approval to become a registered information system
under that rule.
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Further Planning
As required by the Dodd-Frank Act, the Bureau is continuing to
monitor the functioning of markets for consumer financial products and
services to identify risks to consumers and the proper functioning of
such markets. Future regulatory agendas are expected to reflect this
monitoring, the feedback received through the call for evidence
initiative and the assessment project, and prioritization by the
Bureau's next permanent director to determine which rulemakings are
appropriate to achieve the Bureau's strategic goals and objectives.
Dated: March 15, 2018.
Kelly Thompson Cochran,
Assistant Director for Regulations, Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau--Prerule Stage
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Regulation
Sequence No. Title Identifier No.
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250....................... Business Lending Data 3170-AA09
(Regulation B).
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CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU (CFPB)
Prerule Stage
250. Business Lending Data (Regulation B)
E.O. 13771 Designation: Independent agency.
Legal Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1691c-2
Abstract: Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amends the Equal Credit
Opportunity Act (ECOA) to require financial institutions to report
information concerning credit applications made by women-owned,
minority-owned, and small businesses. The amendments to ECOA made by
the Dodd-Frank Act require that certain data be collected, maintained,
and reported, including the number of the application and date the
application was received; the type and purpose of the loan or credit
applied for; the amount of credit applied for and approved; the type of
action taken with regard to each application and the date of such
action; the census tract of the principal place of business; the gross
annual revenue of the business; and the race, sex, and ethnicity of the
principal owners of the business. The Dodd-Frank Act also provides
authority for the CFPB to require any additional data that the CFPB
determines would aid in fulfilling the purposes of this section. The
Bureau issued a Request for Information in 2017 seeking public comment
on, among other things, the types of credit products offered and the
types of data currently collected by lenders in this market, and the
potential complexity, cost of, and privacy issues related to, small
business data collection. The information received will help the Bureau
determine how to implement the rule efficiently while minimizing
burdens on lenders.
Timetable:
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Action Date FR Cite
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Request for Information............. 05/15/17 82 FR 22318
Request for Information Comment 09/14/17
Period End.
Prerule Activities.................. 03/00/19
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Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes.
Agency Contact: James Wylie, Office of Regulations, Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau, Phone: 202 435-7700.
RIN: 3170-AA09
[FR Doc. 2018-11229 Filed 6-8-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P