Submission of Credit Card Agreements Under the Truth In Lending Act (Regulation Z), 10417-10422 [2015-03879]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 38 / Thursday, February 26, 2015 / Proposed Rules
by this section. Other disinfectants may
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(3) The Administrator will withdraw
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(e) Cargo containers used to ship
livestock must be designed and
constructed of a material of sufficient
strength to securely contain the animals
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§ 91.14
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diseases and to ensure the humane
treatment of the animals during
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Done in Washington, DC, this 20th day of
February 2015.
Kevin Shea,
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service.
[FR Doc. 2015–04013 Filed 2–25–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–34–P
BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL
PROTECTION
12 CFR Part 1026
[Docket No. CFPB–2015–0006]
RIN 3170–AA50
Submission of Credit Card Agreements
Under the Truth In Lending Act
(Regulation Z)
Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for
public comment.
AGENCY:
The Bureau of Consumer
Financial Protection (Bureau) is
proposing to amend Regulation Z,
which implements the Truth in Lending
Act, and the official interpretation to
that regulation. The proposal would
temporarily suspend card issuers’
obligations to submit credit card
agreements to the Bureau for a period of
one year (i.e., four quarterly
submissions), in order to reduce burden
while the Bureau works to develop a
more streamlined and automated
electronic submission system. Other
requirements, including card issuers’
obligations to post currently-offered
agreements on their own Web sites,
would remain unaffected.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before March 13, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by Docket No. CFPB–2015–
0006 or RIN 3170–AA50, by any of the
following methods:
SUMMARY:
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• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://
www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Email: FederalRegisterComments@
cfpb.gov. Include Docket No. CFPB–
2015–0006 and/or RIN 3170–AA50 in
the subject line of the email.
• Mail: Monica Jackson, Office of the
Executive Secretary, Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G
Street NW., Washington, DC 20552.
• Hand Delivery/Courier: Monica
Jackson, Office of the Executive
Secretary, Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau, 1275 First Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20002.
Instructions: All submissions should
include the agency name and docket
number or Regulatory Information
Number (RIN) for this rulemaking.
Because paper mail in the Washington,
DC area and at the Bureau is subject to
delay, commenters are encouraged to
submit comments electronically. In
general, all comments received will be
posted without change to https://
www.regulations.gov. In addition,
comments will be available for public
inspection and copying at 1275 First
Street NE., Washington, DC 20002, on
official business days between the hours
of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. You
can make an appointment to inspect the
documents by telephoning (202) 435–
7275.
All comments, including attachments
and other supporting materials, will
become part of the public record and
subject to public disclosure. Sensitive
personal information, such as account
numbers or social security numbers,
should not be included. Comments
generally will not be edited to remove
any identifying or contact information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas L. Devlin, Counsel, or Kristine
M. Andreassen, Senior Counsel, Office
of Regulations, at (202) 435–7700.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Summary of the Proposed Rule
The Truth in Lending Act (TILA), in
section 122(d), requires creditors to post
agreements for open-end consumer
credit card plans on the creditors’ Web
sites and to submit those agreements to
the Bureau. 15 U.S.C. 1632(d). These
provisions are implemented in
§ 1026.58 of Regulation Z.1 12 CFR
1026.58. The Bureau is proposing to
temporarily suspend the requirement in
§ 1026.58(c) that card issuers submit
credit card agreements to the Bureau for
1 Section 1026.58 uses the terms card issuer (or
issuer) and credit card agreement (or agreement) in
lieu of the terms creditor and open-end consumer
credit card plan, respectively, that are used in
section 122(d) of TILA.
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a period of one year (i.e., four quarterly
submissions), in order to reduce burden
while the Bureau works to develop a
more streamlined and automated
electronic submission system.
Specifically, the Bureau is proposing to
suspend the submissions that would
otherwise be due to the Bureau by the
first business day on or after April 30,
2015; July 31, 2015; October 31, 2015;
and January 31, 2016. Beginning with
the submission due on the first business
day on or after April 30, 2016, card
issuers would resume submitting credit
card agreements on a quarterly basis to
the Bureau. Other requirements under
§ 1026.58, including card issuers’
obligations to post currently-offered
agreements on their own Web sites
under § 1026.58(d), would remain
unaffected.
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II. Background
In 2009, Congress enhanced
protections for credit cards in the Credit
Card Accountability Responsibility and
Disclosure Act (CARD Act), which it
enacted to ‘‘establish fair and
transparent practices related to the
extension of credit’’ in the credit card
market.2 The Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (Board)
generally implemented the CARD Act’s
provisions in subpart G of Regulation Z.
Section 204 of the CARD Act added new
TILA section 122(d) to require creditors
to post agreements for open-end
consumer credit card plans on the
creditors’ Web sites and to submit those
agreements to the Board for posting on
a publicly available Web site established
and maintained by the Board. 15 U.S.C.
1632(d).
Specifically, TILA section 122(d)(1)
requires each creditor to post its credit
card agreements on its own Web site,
and section 122(d)(2) requires the
creditor to provide its agreements to the
Bureau (formerly the Board). TILA
section 122(d)(3) requires the Bureau
(formerly the Board) to establish and
maintain on its publicly available Web
site a central repository of the
agreements it receives under section
122(d)(2). The Board implemented these
provisions in 12 CFR 226.58. With the
adoption of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street
Reform and Consumer Protection Act
(Dodd-Frank Act), authority to
implement TILA transferred to the
Bureau 3 and the Bureau renumbered
this provision in Regulation Z as
§ 1026.58.4
Law 111–24, 123 Stat. 1734 (2009).
Law 111–203, section 1100A, 124 Stat.
2081 (2010) (codified at 15 U.S.C. 1602 et seq.).
4 76 FR 79768 (Dec. 22, 2011).
While TILA section 122(d) requires
that creditors provide agreements to the
Bureau, it does not specify the
frequency or timing for these
submissions. The implementing
regulations in Regulation Z provide that
submission of currently-offered
agreements must be made quarterly. See
§ 1026.58(c)(1). These quarterly
submissions must be sent to the Bureau
no later than the first business day on
or after January 31, April 30, July 31,
and October 31 of each year. The
regulation also provides that, except in
certain circumstances, card issuers must
post and maintain on their publicly
available Web sites the credit card
agreements that the issuers are required
to submit to the Bureau. See
§ 1026.58(d).
Under the current process, which has
been used by the Bureau since its
inception, card issuers submit
agreements and agreement information
to the Bureau manually via email. The
Bureau believes this process may be
unnecessarily cumbersome for issuers
and may make issuers’ own internal
tracking of previously submitted
agreements difficult. In addition, the
current process for Bureau staff to
manually review, catalog, and upload
new or revised agreements to the
Bureau’s Web site, and to remove
outdated agreements, can extend for
several months after the quarterly
submission deadline.5 The Bureau is
working to develop a more streamlined
and automated electronic submission
system which would allow issuers to
upload agreements directly to the
Bureau’s database. The Bureau intends
for its new submission system to be less
burdensome and easier for issuers to
use. It also intends for the new system
to enable faster posting of new and
revised agreements on the Bureau’s Web
site.
In order to reduce the burden on card
issuers of continuing to use manual
submission methods while the Bureau
works to design, test, and implement a
more streamlined and automated
electronic submission system, the
Bureau is proposing to temporarily
suspend issuers’ obligations to submit
credit card agreements to the Bureau for
a period of one year (i.e., four quarterly
submissions), as described in more
detail in the section-by-section analysis
below. Issuers’ obligations to post
currently-offered agreements on their
own Web sites would be unaffected.
The Bureau recognizes that its
proposed temporary suspension of the
2 Public
3 Public
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5 The
Bureau’s database of credit card agreements
is available at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/
credit-cards/agreements/.
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requirement that card issuers submit
credit card agreements to the Bureau
would temporarily reduce the access
consumers, other external parties, and
the Bureau itself would have to a single
repository of the agreements that would
have been submitted during this oneyear period. However, the Bureau
believes that this temporary reduction
would not impose significant costs on
consumers, other external parties, or the
Bureau itself for at least two key
reasons. First, the Bureau is not
proposing to modify the requirement
that card issuers post currently-offered
agreements on their own Web sites in a
manner that is prominent and readily
accessible by the public (§ 1026.58(d))
or that card issuers make all open
agreements available on their Web sites
or to cardholders upon request
(§ 1026.58(e)).
Second, the Bureau intends to
manually compile credit card
agreements from certain large card
issuers’ Web sites as of approximately
September 2015. Given the longstanding
concentration in the credit card market,
the Bureau believes that uploading
agreements obtained from a relatively
small number of issuers’ Web sites to
the Bureau’s own Web site is sufficient
to provide the agreement terms available
to the overwhelming majority of credit
card consumers in the U.S. as of the
mid-point of the proposed suspension
period.6 This will allow consumers to
continue to use the Bureau’s Web site to
effectively compare agreements offered
by various issuers.
Overall, the Bureau anticipates that
the marginal costs to consumers and
other external parties from interrupted
access during the suspension period
will be outweighed by the anticipated
benefits of increased usability of the
agreements and expedited availability of
agreements on the Bureau’s Web site
after the Bureau implements a more
streamlined and automated submission
system. The Bureau intends to explore
potential functionality for the new
system that would improve external
parties’ ability to use the information
efficiently and effectively, such as
through improved reporting capabilities.
In addition, by streamlining the
submission process, the Bureau intends
for the new system to also reduce
burden on card issuers.
III. Legal Authority
TILA section 105(a) authorizes the
Bureau to prescribe regulations to carry
6 See, e.g., CFPB, CARD Act Report, at 13–14 (Oct.
1, 2013), available at https://
files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201309_cfpb_card-actreport.pdf.
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out the purposes of TILA. These
regulations may contain such
classifications, differentiations, or other
provisions, and may provide for such
adjustments and exceptions for any
class of transactions, that in the
Bureau’s judgment are necessary or
proper to effectuate the purposes of
TILA, facilitate compliance with TILA,
or prevent circumvention or evasion of
TILA. TILA section 122(d)(5) authorizes
the Bureau to promulgate regulations to
implement section 122(d), including,
among other things, establishing
exceptions to TILA sections 122(d)(1)
and (2) in any case where the
administrative burden outweighs the
benefits of increased transparency.
The Bureau proposes to exercise its
rulemaking authority pursuant to TILA
sections 105(a) and 122(d)(5) to, in
effect, change the period for creditors’
submission of agreements to the Bureau
from quarterly to annually, for a period
of one year. The Bureau also proposes
to exercise its exception authority under
TILA sections 105(a) and 122(d)(5) to
temporarily suspend the agreement
submission requirements in
§ 1026.58(c), as it believes the burden to
issuers of continuing to submit
agreements under the current
cumbersome, manual process while the
Bureau works to develop a more
streamlined and automated electronic
submission system outweighs the
benefits of transparency to consumers
and other external parties of access to
those agreements via the Bureau’s Web
site during the proposed suspension
period. Further, the Bureau believes that
a temporary suspension would
effectuate the purposes of TILA and
facilitate compliance therewith.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the
Proposed Rule
Regulation Z
Subpart G—Special Rules Applicable to
Credit Card Accounts and Open-End
Credit Offered to College Students
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Section 1026.58 Internet Posting of
Credit Card Agreements
58(g) Temporary Suspension of
Agreement Submission Requirement
The Bureau is proposing, in
§ 1026.58(g)(1), to temporarily suspend
the quarterly credit card agreement
submission requirement in § 1026.58(c)
for submissions that would otherwise be
due to the Bureau by the first business
day on or after April 30, 2015; July 31,
2015; October 31, 2015; and January 31,
2016. Proposed comment 58(g)–1 would
further clarify this provision.
Proposed comment 58(g)–2 would
explain that, beginning with the
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submission due on the first business day
on or after April 30, 2016, card issuers
shall resume submitting credit card
agreements on a quarterly basis to the
Bureau pursuant to § 1026.58(c). A card
issuer shall submit agreements for the
prior calendar quarter (that is, the
calendar quarter ending March 31,
2016), as required by § 1026.58(c)(1)(ii)
through (iv) and (c)(3) through (7), to the
Bureau no later than the first business
day on or after April 30, 2016.
Proposed comment 58(g)–2.i would
explain what must be included in the
submission due on the first business day
on or after April 30, 2016, as required
by § 1026.58(c)(1)(i) through (iv) and
(c)(3) through (7). Proposed comment
58(g)–2.ii would explain that, in lieu of
providing new and amended
agreements, and notice of withdrawn
agreements, for the April 30, 2016
submission, § 1026.58(c)(1) and
comment 58(c)(1)–3 permit a card issuer
to submit to the Bureau a complete,
updated set of the credit card
agreements the card issuer offered to the
public as of the calendar quarter ending
March 31, 2016.
Section 1026.58(d) requires a card
issuer to post and maintain on its
publicly available Web site the credit
card agreements that the issuer is
required to submit to the Bureau under
§ 1026.58(c). Proposed § 1026.58(g)(2)
would provide that the suspended
submission requirement in proposed
§ 1026.58(g)(1) would not affect card
issuers’ obligations to post agreements
on their own Web sites as required by
§ 1026.58(d) during the temporary
suspension period. Proposed comment
58(g)–3 would further explain this
provision and provide several examples.
The Bureau solicits comment on its
proposal to temporarily suspend the
obligation card issuers would otherwise
have under § 1026.58(c) to submit credit
card agreements to the Bureau for the
four quarterly submissions that would
otherwise be due to the Bureau by the
first business day on or after April 30,
2015; July 31, 2015; October 31, 2015;
and January 31, 2016.
For the quarterly submission due on
the first business day on or after April
30, 2016, card issuers must follow any
technical specifications for submission
that the Bureau releases. The Bureau
shall provide advance notice to card
issuers of such technical specifications.
The Bureau is not seeking comment on
possible technical specifications for the
credit card agreement submission
process.
The Bureau notes that annual
submission of college credit card
agreements and related data pursuant to
§ 1026.57(d) and the biannual
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submission of credit card pricing and
availability information pursuant to 15
U.S.C. 1646(b) are not affected by this
proposal. At present, the Bureau intends
to continue using existing systems and
processes to receive those submissions,
which are less frequent and involve
fewer issuers. At the time the Bureau
implements a more streamlined and
automated electronic system for
submission of quarterly credit card
agreements, however, the Bureau
expects to review that system’s potential
suitability for other submissions.7
V. Proposed Effective Date
The Bureau proposes that the changes
proposed herein take effect immediately
upon publication of a final rule in the
Federal Register. As discussed above,
the Bureau is working to develop a more
streamlined and automated electronic
submission system which would allow
card issuers to upload credit card
agreements directly to the Bureau’s
database. The Bureau is proposing an
immediate effective date for its
temporary suspension of the
requirement that card issuers submit
credit card agreements to the Bureau.
The Bureau seeks comment on
whether its proposed changes should
take effect immediately upon
publication of a final rule in the Federal
Register or if a later effective date is
more appropriate.
VI. Section 1022(b)(2) of the DoddFrank Act
A. Overview
In developing the proposed rule, the
Bureau has considered potential
benefits, costs, and impacts.8 The
Bureau requests comment on the
preliminary analysis presented below as
well as submissions of additional data
7 The Bureau proposed a requirement similar to
that of § 1026.58 for prepaid accounts. See 79 FR
77102, 77191 (Dec. 23, 2014). The Bureau noted
that it ‘‘expects to provide additional details
regarding the electronic submission process in
connection with the release of its final rule on this
subject. Issuers will have no submission obligations
until the Bureau has issued technical specifications
addressing the form and manner for submission of
agreements. The Bureau intends for the streamlined
electronic submission process to be operational
before proposed § 1005.19(b) becomes effective.’’ Id.
at 77196. The Bureau intends to explore whether
the same streamlined electronic submission process
can be used to collect agreements from both card
issuers and prepaid account issuers.
8 Specifically, section 1022(b)(2)(A) of the DoddFrank Act calls for the Bureau to consider the
potential benefits and costs of a regulation to
consumers and covered persons, including the
potential reduction of access by consumers to
consumer financial products or services; the impact
on depository institutions and credit unions with
$10 billion or less in total assets as described in
section 1026 of the Dodd-Frank Act; and the impact
on consumers in rural areas.
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that could inform the Bureau’s analysis
of the benefits, costs, and impacts. The
Bureau has consulted, or offered to
consult with, the prudential regulators,
the Department of the Treasury, and the
Federal Trade Commission, including
regarding consistency with any
prudential, market, or systemic
objectives administered by such
agencies.
Pursuant to TILA section 122(d)(3),
the Bureau maintains on its public Web
site a repository of the consumer credit
card agreements that card issuers submit
pursuant to § 1026.58(c). The electronic
folders in the repository are organized
by quarter, back to the third quarter of
2011, reflecting the transfer of authority
to implement TILA from the Board to
the Bureau pursuant to the Dodd-Frank
Act. For each quarter, the repository
contains a copy of each agreement, in
PDF format, that was available to
consumers as of the end of that quarter.
The repository also contains, for each
quarter, a spreadsheet that provides
certain identifying information about
each agreement and the issuer thereof.
Proposed § 1026.58(g) would
temporarily suspend the requirement in
§ 1026.58(c) for card issuers to submit
credit card agreements to the Bureau.
Under the proposed rule, card issuers
would not be required to make quarterly
submissions to the Bureau for the
submissions that would otherwise be
due by the first business day on or after
April 30, 2015; July 31, 2015; October
31, 2015; and January 31, 2016.
Consequently, the Bureau would not
provide these agreements on its Web
site. As discussed previously, however,
the Bureau intends to manually compile
credit card agreements from certain
large card issuer Web sites as of
approximately September 2015 and to
post those agreements on its Web site.
Card issuers would resume submitting
agreements on a quarterly basis to the
Bureau beginning with the submission
due by the first business day on or after
April 30, 2016. The Bureau is not
proposing to modify the requirement
that card issuers post currently-offered
agreements on their own Web sites in a
manner that is prominent and readily
accessible by the public (§ 1026.58(d))
or that card issuers make all open
agreements available on their Web sites
or to cardholders upon request
(§ 1026.58(e)).
B. Potential Benefits and Costs to
Consumers and Covered Persons
The Bureau is not aware of any
significant costs to consumers that
might arise from the temporary
suspension of the quarterly submission
requirement and the absence of these
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agreements on the Bureau’s Web site.
While the Bureau’s Web site can assist
consumers in comparing credit card
agreements when shopping for a new
card, the Bureau believes that most
consumers are not likely to use the
repository to identify desirable credit
cards, in part because they would not
know if they qualified for the cards they
identified. The Bureau believes that
consumers are more likely to identify a
number of cards for which they qualify
before comparing the terms and
conditions for those cards. These terms
and conditions will remain readily
available to consumers on the issuers’
Web sites. Similarly, a consumer who
wanted to replace a lost agreement
would likely find it easier to contact the
issuer than to search the repository
because the agreement might no longer
be available to new cardholders, in
which case the consumer would need to
search across multiple quarters to find
the agreement, and even then might lack
confidence that she had found the
version of the agreement that applied to
her.
On the other hand, the Bureau
recognizes that consumers who would
qualify for almost any card on the
market and who want to learn about the
features of a large number of products
might find the repository useful. The
proposed rule might increase the cost to
these consumers of searching for
desirable credit cards. The Bureau
believes that this cost would be small,
however, given that the Bureau is
suspending the submission requirement
for just four quarters. The Bureau
requests comment on this point.
Similarly, the Bureau recognizes the
possibility that entities may use the
information in the repository to develop
more competitive products or extract
information that they could sell or
otherwise provide to consumers or third
parties. However, the Bureau believes
that this is unlikely given that the
agreements, while generally in
searchable PDF format, do not contain
uniform data or text fields that would
provide the same type of information in
fixed locations across files. The Bureau
requests comment on this point as well.
The Bureau believes that the proposal
would provide issuers with a minor but
tangible benefit. For the third quarter of
2014, 446 issuers had 1,833 agreements
in the Bureau’s database. While 169
issuers had just one agreement, the
median number of agreements per issuer
was two and the average was four. Four
issuers had over 50 agreements. In the
third quarter alone, 103 issuers
submitted 429 agreements; the median
and mean were again two and four,
respectively. Three issuers submitted
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over 25 agreements. All issuers would
be able to suspend their submissions for
four quarters, which would remove
some compliance burden. The Bureau
believes that the burden is small on
average, although it may be higher for
the entities that provide a large number
of agreements.9 The Bureau requests
comment on this point.
As noted above, the Bureau
recognizes the possibility that entities
could use the information in the
repository to develop more competitive
products or extract information that
they could sell or otherwise provide to
consumers or third parties. However, as
mentioned above, the Bureau believes
that this is unlikely given the
difficulties in using files in PDF format
for this purpose. To the extent that
entities are inclined to use the files in
the repository to extract information, the
Bureau believes that manual collection
of the credit card agreements from
certain large card issuer Web sites as of
approximately September 2015 and
posting those agreements on the Bureau
Web site will mitigate the impact of the
proposed rule on these entities.
As an alternative, the Bureau
considered coupling the temporary
suspension with a requirement to
provide the Bureau, after the suspension
expired, with the agreements that they
would have been required to submit if
not for the suspension. Compared to the
proposed rule, this alternative would
have imposed smaller costs on
consumers and provided smaller
benefits to issuers. Since the costs to
consumers under the proposed rule are
small to begin with, the Bureau believes
that the proposed rule is superior to the
alternative. The Bureau requests
comment on this point.
C. Impact on Covered Persons With No
More Than $10 Billion in Assets
The majority of banks and credit
unions that provide agreements under
§ 1026.58(c) have no more than $10
billion in assets. Thus, the majority of
banks and credit unions that would
benefit from the proposed rule have no
more than $10 billion in assets. On the
other hand, larger banks and credit
9 The Bureau notes that card issuers who submit
a smaller number of agreements to the Bureau, but
that only submit new and amended agreements and
notice of withdrawn agreements, may have higher
compliance costs than issuers who resubmit each
quarter all agreements that are currently available
to consumers. Thus, using the number of
agreements submitted each quarter does not strictly
track compliance cost. However, the Bureau expects
that the number of agreements submitted and
compliance cost are correlated even for those who
submit all available agreements each quarter
because they still have to ensure they are not
sending agreements that are no longer offered to
new customers or are entirely defunct.
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unions generally provide the Bureau
with more agreements each quarter.
Thus, the proposed rule would
generally provide larger banks and
credit unions with a greater reduction in
burden compared to that obtained by
banks and credit unions with no more
than $10 billion in assets.
D. Impact on Access to Credit
The Bureau does not believe that
there will be an adverse impact on
access to credit, or any other consumer
financial products or services, resulting
from the proposed rule. The proposed
rule imposes no direct requirements on
consumer financial products or services
or providers of consumer financial
products or services or on the eligibility
of consumers for consumer financial
products or services. As discussed
above, the proposed rule imposes at
most a minor additional cost on certain
consumers searching for a credit card.
As noted above, the Bureau
recognizes the possibility that entities
could use the information in the
repository to develop more competitive
products or extract information that
they could sell or otherwise provide to
consumers or third parties. However,
the Bureau believes that this is unlikely
given the difficulties in using files in
PDF format for this purpose and the fact
that the suspension would last for just
four quarters. Thus, the proposed rule
should not inhibit activities that would
improve access to credit such as the
development of more competitive credit
products or products that would reduce
search costs.
rmajette on DSK2VPTVN1PROD with PROPOSALS
E. Impact on Consumers in Rural Areas
The Bureau does not believe that the
proposed rule would have a unique
impact on consumers in rural areas.
VII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA),
as amended by the Small Business
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of
1996, requires each agency to consider
the potential impact of its regulations on
small entities, including small
businesses, small governmental units,
and small nonprofit organizations. The
RFA defines a ‘‘small business’’ as a
business that meets the size standard
developed by the Small Business
Administration pursuant to the Small
Business Act.
The RFA generally requires an agency
to conduct an initial regulatory
flexibility analysis (IRFA) and a final
regulatory flexibility analysis (FRFA) of
any rule subject to notice-and-comment
rulemaking requirements, unless the
agency certifies that the rule will not
have a significant economic impact on
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a substantial number of small entities.
The Bureau also is subject to certain
additional procedures under the RFA
involving the convening of a panel to
consult with small business
representatives prior to proposing a rule
for which an IRFA is required.
An IRFA is not required here because
the proposal, if adopted, would not have
a significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The Bureau does not expect the
proposal to impose costs on small
entities. As discussed above, the Bureau
believes that the proposed rule would
cause a small reduction in costs on all
issuers, including small entity issuers,
who would otherwise be required to
submit agreements to the Bureau.
Accordingly, the undersigned certifies
that this proposal, if adopted, would not
have a significant economic impact on
a substantial number of small entities.
VIII. Paperwork Reduction Act
Analysis
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.),
Federal agencies are generally required
to seek the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) approval for information
collection requirements prior to
implementation. Under the PRA, the
Bureau may not conduct or sponsor and,
notwithstanding any other provision of
law, a person is not required to respond
to an information collection unless the
information collection displays a valid
control number assigned by OMB.
The Bureau is currently seeking a new
OMB control number for the
information collection in § 1026.58(c).10
The Bureau expects to obtain this
control number prior to the first
business day on or after April 30, 2016,
which is the date on which the
information collection in § 1026.58(c)
would resume if the proposed rule were
finalized.
The Bureau welcomes comments on
any aspect of this proposal for purposes
of the PRA. Comments should be
submitted as outlined in the ADDRESSES
section above. All comments will
become a matter of public record.
List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 1026
Advertising, Consumer protection,
Credit, Credit unions, Mortgages,
National banks, Reporting and
recordkeeping requirements, Savings
associations, Truth in lending.
10 See 79 FR 62421 (Oct. 17, 2014); 80 FR 8291
(Feb. 17, 2015). The OMB control number would
also apply to the information collection in
§ 1026.57.
PO 00000
Frm 00024
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
10421
Authority and Issuance
For the reasons set forth in the
preamble, the Bureau proposes to
amend 12 CFR part 1026, as follows:
PART 1026—TRUTH IN LENDING
(REGULATION Z)
1. The authority citation for part 1026
continues to read as follows:
■
Authority: 12 U.S.C. 2601, 2603–2605,
2607, 2609, 2617, 5511, 5512, 5532, 5581; 15
U.S.C. 1601 et seq.
Subpart G—Special Rules Applicable
to Credit Card Accounts and Open-End
Credit Offered to College Students
2. Section 1026.58 is amended by
adding paragraph (g) to read as follows:
■
§ 1026.58 Internet posting of credit card
agreements.
*
*
*
*
*
(g) Temporary suspension of
agreement submission requirement—(1)
Quarterly submissions. The quarterly
submission requirement in paragraph (c)
of this section is suspended for the
submissions that would otherwise be
due to the Bureau by the first business
day on or after April 30, 2015; July 31,
2015; October 31, 2015; and January 31,
2016.
(2) Posting of agreements offered to
the public. Nothing in paragraph (g)(1)
of this section shall affect the agreement
posting requirements in paragraph (d) of
this section.
■ 3. In Supplement I to Part 1026, under
Section 1026.58—Internet Posting of
Credit Card Agreements, add subsection
58(g) Temporary Suspension of
Agreement Submission Requirement to
read as follows:
Supplement I to Part 1026—Official
Interpretations
*
*
*
*
*
Section 1026.58—Internet Posting of Credit
Card Agreements
*
*
*
*
*
58(g) Temporary Suspension of Agreement
Submission Requirement
1. Suspended quarterly submission
requirement. Pursuant to § 1026.58(g)(1), card
issuers are not required to make quarterly
submissions to the Bureau, as otherwise
required by § 1026.58(c), for the submissions
that would otherwise be due by the first
business day on or after April 30, 2015; July
31, 2015; October 31, 2015; and January 31,
2016. Specifically, a card issuer is not
required to submit information about the
issuer and its agreements pursuant to
§ 1026.58(c)(1)(i), new credit card agreements
pursuant to § 1026.58(c)(1)(ii), amended
agreements pursuant to § 1026.58(c)(1)(iii)
and (c)(3), or notification of withdrawn
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 38 / Thursday, February 26, 2015 / Proposed Rules
agreements pursuant to § 1026.58(c)(1)(iv)
and (c)(4) through (7) for those four quarters.
2. Resuming submission of credit card
agreements to the Bureau. Beginning with
the submission due on the first business day
on or after April 30, 2016, card issuers shall
resume submitting credit card agreements on
a quarterly basis to the Bureau pursuant to
§ 1026.58(c). A card issuer shall submit
agreements for the prior calendar quarter
(that is, the calendar quarter ending March
31, 2016), as specified in § 1026.58(c)(1)(ii)
through (iv) and (c)(3) through (7), to the
Bureau no later than the first business day on
or after April 30, 2016.
i. Specifically, the submission due on the
first business day on or after April 30, 2016
shall contain, as applicable:
A. Identifying information about the card
issuer and the agreements submitted,
including the issuer’s name, address, and
identifying number (such as an RSSD ID
number or tax identification number),
pursuant to § 1026.58(c)(1)(i);
B. The credit card agreements that the card
issuer offered to the public as of the last
business day of the calendar quarter ending
March 31, 2016 that the card issuer had not
previously submitted to the Bureau as of the
first business day on or after January 31,
2015, pursuant to § 1026.58(c)(1)(ii);
C. Any credit card agreement previously
submitted to the Bureau that was amended
since the last business day of the calendar
quarter ending December 31, 2014 and that
the card issuer offered to the public as of the
last business day of the calendar quarter
ending March 31, 2016, pursuant to
§ 1026.58(c)(1)(iii) and (c)(3); and
D. Notification regarding any credit card
agreement previously submitted to the
Bureau that the issuer is withdrawing,
pursuant to § 1026.58(c)(1)(iv) and (c)(4)
through (7).
ii. In lieu of the submission described in
comment 58(g)–2.i.B through D,
§ 1026.58(c)(1) permits a card issuer to
submit to the Bureau a complete, updated set
of the credit card agreements the card issuer
offered to the public as of the calendar
quarter ending March 31, 2016. See comment
58(c)(1)–3.
3. Continuing obligation to post agreements
on a card issuer’s own Web site. Section
1026.58(d) requires a card issuer to post and
maintain on its publicly available Web site
the credit card agreements that the issuer is
required to submit to the Bureau under
§ 1026.58(c). Pursuant to § 1026.58(g)(2),
during the temporary suspension period set
forth in § 1026.58(g)(1), a card issuer shall
continue to post its agreements to its own
publicly available Web site as required by
§ 1026.58(d) using the agreements it would
have otherwise submitted to the Bureau
under § 1026.58(c). For example, for
purposes of § 1026.58(d)(4), a card issuer
must continue to update the agreements
posted on its own Web site at least as
frequently as the quarterly schedule required
for submission of agreements to the Bureau
set forth in § 1026.58(c)(1), notwithstanding
the temporary suspension of submission
requirements in § 1026.58(g)(1). Similarly, for
purposes of § 1026.58(d)(2), agreements
posted by a card issuer on its own Web site
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17:53 Feb 25, 2015
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must continue to conform to the form and
content requirements set forth in
§ 1026.58(c)(8).
*
*
*
*
*
Dated: February 19, 2015.
Richard Cordray,
Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection.
[FR Doc. 2015–03879 Filed 2–25–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR part 25
[Docket No. FAA–2014–1079; Notice No. 25–
15–01–SC]
Special Conditions: Gulfstream Model
GVII Series Airplanes; Limit Pilot
Forces for Side-Stick Controller
Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed special
conditions.
AGENCY:
This action proposes special
conditions for the Gulfstream Model
GVII–G500 (GVII series) airplanes.
These airplanes will have a novel or
unusual design feature when compared
to the state of technology envisioned in
the airworthiness standards for
transport-category airplanes.
This design feature is associated with
side-stick controllers that require
limited pilot force because they are
operated by one hand only. The
applicable airworthiness regulations do
not contain adequate or appropriate
safety standards for this design feature.
These proposed special conditions
contain the additional safety standards
that the Administrator considers
necessary to establish a level of safety
equivalent to that established by the
existing airworthiness standards.
DATES: Send your comments on or
before April 13, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Send comments identified
by docket number FAA–2014–1079
using any of the following methods:
• Federal eRegulations Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov/ and follow
the online instructions for sending your
comments electronically.
• Mail: Send comments to Docket
Operations, M–30, U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Room W12–140, West
Building Ground Floor, Washington, DC
20590–0001.
• Hand Delivery or Courier: Take
comments to Docket Operations in
Room W12–140 of the West Building
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00025
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
Ground Floor at 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE., Washington, DC, between 9
a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
• Fax: Fax comments to Docket
Operations at 202–493–2251.
Privacy: The FAA will post all
comments it receives, without change,
to https://www.regulations.gov/,
including any personal information the
commenter provides. Using the search
function of the docket Web site, anyone
can find and read the electronic form of
all comments received into any FAA
docket, including the name of the
individual sending the comment (or
signing the comment for an association,
business, labor union, etc.). DOT’s
complete Privacy Act Statement can be
found in the Federal Register published
on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477–19478),
as well as at https://DocketsInfo.
dot.gov/.
Docket: Background documents or
comments received may be read at
https://www.regulations.gov/ at any time.
Follow the online instructions for
accessing the docket or go to Docket
Operations in Room W12–140 of the
West Building Ground Floor at 1200
New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington,
DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday
through Friday, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Todd Martin, FAA, Airframe and Cabin
Safety Branch, ANM–115, Transport
Airplane Directorate, Aircraft
Certification Service, 1601 Lind Avenue
SW., Renton, Washington, 98057–3356;
telephone 425–227–1178; facsimile
425–227–1320.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
We invite interested people to take
part in this rulemaking by sending
written comments, data, or views. The
most helpful comments reference a
specific portion of the proposed special
conditions, explain the reason for any
recommended change, and include
supporting data.
We will consider all comments we
receive by the closing date for
comments. We may change these special
conditions based on the comments we
receive.
Background
On March 29, 2012, Gulfstream
Aerospace applied for a type certificate
for their new Model GVII–G500
airplane.
The Model GVII series airplanes are
large-cabin business jets capable of
accommodating up to 19 passengers.
The GVII series will certify a base
configuration GVII–G500, which
E:\FR\FM\26FEP1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 38 (Thursday, February 26, 2015)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 10417-10422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03879]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION
12 CFR Part 1026
[Docket No. CFPB-2015-0006]
RIN 3170-AA50
Submission of Credit Card Agreements Under the Truth In Lending
Act (Regulation Z)
AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
ACTION: Proposed rule; request for public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is
proposing to amend Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending
Act, and the official interpretation to that regulation. The proposal
would temporarily suspend card issuers' obligations to submit credit
card agreements to the Bureau for a period of one year (i.e., four
quarterly submissions), in order to reduce burden while the Bureau
works to develop a more streamlined and automated electronic submission
system. Other requirements, including card issuers' obligations to post
currently-offered agreements on their own Web sites, would remain
unaffected.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 13, 2015.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CFPB-2015-
0006 or RIN 3170-AA50, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Email: FederalRegisterComments@cfpb.gov. Include Docket
No. CFPB-2015-0006 and/or RIN 3170-AA50 in the subject line of the
email.
Mail: Monica Jackson, Office of the Executive Secretary,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC
20552.
Hand Delivery/Courier: Monica Jackson, Office of the
Executive Secretary, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1275 First
Street NE., Washington, DC 20002.
Instructions: All submissions should include the agency name and
docket number or Regulatory Information Number (RIN) for this
rulemaking. Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the
Bureau is subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to submit
comments electronically. In general, all comments received will be
posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov. In addition,
comments will be available for public inspection and copying at 1275
First Street NE., Washington, DC 20002, on official business days
between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. You can make an
appointment to inspect the documents by telephoning (202) 435-7275.
All comments, including attachments and other supporting materials,
will become part of the public record and subject to public disclosure.
Sensitive personal information, such as account numbers or social
security numbers, should not be included. Comments generally will not
be edited to remove any identifying or contact information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas L. Devlin, Counsel, or Kristine
M. Andreassen, Senior Counsel, Office of Regulations, at (202) 435-
7700.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Summary of the Proposed Rule
The Truth in Lending Act (TILA), in section 122(d), requires
creditors to post agreements for open-end consumer credit card plans on
the creditors' Web sites and to submit those agreements to the Bureau.
15 U.S.C. 1632(d). These provisions are implemented in Sec. 1026.58 of
Regulation Z.\1\ 12 CFR 1026.58. The Bureau is proposing to temporarily
suspend the requirement in Sec. 1026.58(c) that card issuers submit
credit card agreements to the Bureau for
[[Page 10418]]
a period of one year (i.e., four quarterly submissions), in order to
reduce burden while the Bureau works to develop a more streamlined and
automated electronic submission system. Specifically, the Bureau is
proposing to suspend the submissions that would otherwise be due to the
Bureau by the first business day on or after April 30, 2015; July 31,
2015; October 31, 2015; and January 31, 2016. Beginning with the
submission due on the first business day on or after April 30, 2016,
card issuers would resume submitting credit card agreements on a
quarterly basis to the Bureau. Other requirements under Sec. 1026.58,
including card issuers' obligations to post currently-offered
agreements on their own Web sites under Sec. 1026.58(d), would remain
unaffected.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Section 1026.58 uses the terms card issuer (or issuer) and
credit card agreement (or agreement) in lieu of the terms creditor
and open-end consumer credit card plan, respectively, that are used
in section 122(d) of TILA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Background
In 2009, Congress enhanced protections for credit cards in the
Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD
Act), which it enacted to ``establish fair and transparent practices
related to the extension of credit'' in the credit card market.\2\ The
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) generally
implemented the CARD Act's provisions in subpart G of Regulation Z.
Section 204 of the CARD Act added new TILA section 122(d) to require
creditors to post agreements for open-end consumer credit card plans on
the creditors' Web sites and to submit those agreements to the Board
for posting on a publicly available Web site established and maintained
by the Board. 15 U.S.C. 1632(d).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Public Law 111-24, 123 Stat. 1734 (2009).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifically, TILA section 122(d)(1) requires each creditor to post
its credit card agreements on its own Web site, and section 122(d)(2)
requires the creditor to provide its agreements to the Bureau (formerly
the Board). TILA section 122(d)(3) requires the Bureau (formerly the
Board) to establish and maintain on its publicly available Web site a
central repository of the agreements it receives under section
122(d)(2). The Board implemented these provisions in 12 CFR 226.58.
With the adoption of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act), authority to implement TILA
transferred to the Bureau \3\ and the Bureau renumbered this provision
in Regulation Z as Sec. 1026.58.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Public Law 111-203, section 1100A, 124 Stat. 2081 (2010)
(codified at 15 U.S.C. 1602 et seq.).
\4\ 76 FR 79768 (Dec. 22, 2011).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
While TILA section 122(d) requires that creditors provide
agreements to the Bureau, it does not specify the frequency or timing
for these submissions. The implementing regulations in Regulation Z
provide that submission of currently-offered agreements must be made
quarterly. See Sec. 1026.58(c)(1). These quarterly submissions must be
sent to the Bureau no later than the first business day on or after
January 31, April 30, July 31, and October 31 of each year. The
regulation also provides that, except in certain circumstances, card
issuers must post and maintain on their publicly available Web sites
the credit card agreements that the issuers are required to submit to
the Bureau. See Sec. 1026.58(d).
Under the current process, which has been used by the Bureau since
its inception, card issuers submit agreements and agreement information
to the Bureau manually via email. The Bureau believes this process may
be unnecessarily cumbersome for issuers and may make issuers' own
internal tracking of previously submitted agreements difficult. In
addition, the current process for Bureau staff to manually review,
catalog, and upload new or revised agreements to the Bureau's Web site,
and to remove outdated agreements, can extend for several months after
the quarterly submission deadline.\5\ The Bureau is working to develop
a more streamlined and automated electronic submission system which
would allow issuers to upload agreements directly to the Bureau's
database. The Bureau intends for its new submission system to be less
burdensome and easier for issuers to use. It also intends for the new
system to enable faster posting of new and revised agreements on the
Bureau's Web site.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ The Bureau's database of credit card agreements is available
at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/credit-cards/agreements/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In order to reduce the burden on card issuers of continuing to use
manual submission methods while the Bureau works to design, test, and
implement a more streamlined and automated electronic submission
system, the Bureau is proposing to temporarily suspend issuers'
obligations to submit credit card agreements to the Bureau for a period
of one year (i.e., four quarterly submissions), as described in more
detail in the section-by-section analysis below. Issuers' obligations
to post currently-offered agreements on their own Web sites would be
unaffected.
The Bureau recognizes that its proposed temporary suspension of the
requirement that card issuers submit credit card agreements to the
Bureau would temporarily reduce the access consumers, other external
parties, and the Bureau itself would have to a single repository of the
agreements that would have been submitted during this one-year period.
However, the Bureau believes that this temporary reduction would not
impose significant costs on consumers, other external parties, or the
Bureau itself for at least two key reasons. First, the Bureau is not
proposing to modify the requirement that card issuers post currently-
offered agreements on their own Web sites in a manner that is prominent
and readily accessible by the public (Sec. 1026.58(d)) or that card
issuers make all open agreements available on their Web sites or to
cardholders upon request (Sec. 1026.58(e)).
Second, the Bureau intends to manually compile credit card
agreements from certain large card issuers' Web sites as of
approximately September 2015. Given the longstanding concentration in
the credit card market, the Bureau believes that uploading agreements
obtained from a relatively small number of issuers' Web sites to the
Bureau's own Web site is sufficient to provide the agreement terms
available to the overwhelming majority of credit card consumers in the
U.S. as of the mid-point of the proposed suspension period.\6\ This
will allow consumers to continue to use the Bureau's Web site to
effectively compare agreements offered by various issuers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ See, e.g., CFPB, CARD Act Report, at 13-14 (Oct. 1, 2013),
available at https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201309_cfpb_card-act-report.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall, the Bureau anticipates that the marginal costs to
consumers and other external parties from interrupted access during the
suspension period will be outweighed by the anticipated benefits of
increased usability of the agreements and expedited availability of
agreements on the Bureau's Web site after the Bureau implements a more
streamlined and automated submission system. The Bureau intends to
explore potential functionality for the new system that would improve
external parties' ability to use the information efficiently and
effectively, such as through improved reporting capabilities. In
addition, by streamlining the submission process, the Bureau intends
for the new system to also reduce burden on card issuers.
III. Legal Authority
TILA section 105(a) authorizes the Bureau to prescribe regulations
to carry
[[Page 10419]]
out the purposes of TILA. These regulations may contain such
classifications, differentiations, or other provisions, and may provide
for such adjustments and exceptions for any class of transactions, that
in the Bureau's judgment are necessary or proper to effectuate the
purposes of TILA, facilitate compliance with TILA, or prevent
circumvention or evasion of TILA. TILA section 122(d)(5) authorizes the
Bureau to promulgate regulations to implement section 122(d),
including, among other things, establishing exceptions to TILA sections
122(d)(1) and (2) in any case where the administrative burden outweighs
the benefits of increased transparency.
The Bureau proposes to exercise its rulemaking authority pursuant
to TILA sections 105(a) and 122(d)(5) to, in effect, change the period
for creditors' submission of agreements to the Bureau from quarterly to
annually, for a period of one year. The Bureau also proposes to
exercise its exception authority under TILA sections 105(a) and
122(d)(5) to temporarily suspend the agreement submission requirements
in Sec. 1026.58(c), as it believes the burden to issuers of continuing
to submit agreements under the current cumbersome, manual process while
the Bureau works to develop a more streamlined and automated electronic
submission system outweighs the benefits of transparency to consumers
and other external parties of access to those agreements via the
Bureau's Web site during the proposed suspension period. Further, the
Bureau believes that a temporary suspension would effectuate the
purposes of TILA and facilitate compliance therewith.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Proposed Rule
Regulation Z
Subpart G--Special Rules Applicable to Credit Card Accounts and Open-
End Credit Offered to College Students
Section 1026.58 Internet Posting of Credit Card Agreements
58(g) Temporary Suspension of Agreement Submission Requirement
The Bureau is proposing, in Sec. 1026.58(g)(1), to temporarily
suspend the quarterly credit card agreement submission requirement in
Sec. 1026.58(c) for submissions that would otherwise be due to the
Bureau by the first business day on or after April 30, 2015; July 31,
2015; October 31, 2015; and January 31, 2016. Proposed comment 58(g)-1
would further clarify this provision.
Proposed comment 58(g)-2 would explain that, beginning with the
submission due on the first business day on or after April 30, 2016,
card issuers shall resume submitting credit card agreements on a
quarterly basis to the Bureau pursuant to Sec. 1026.58(c). A card
issuer shall submit agreements for the prior calendar quarter (that is,
the calendar quarter ending March 31, 2016), as required by Sec.
1026.58(c)(1)(ii) through (iv) and (c)(3) through (7), to the Bureau no
later than the first business day on or after April 30, 2016.
Proposed comment 58(g)-2.i would explain what must be included in
the submission due on the first business day on or after April 30,
2016, as required by Sec. 1026.58(c)(1)(i) through (iv) and (c)(3)
through (7). Proposed comment 58(g)-2.ii would explain that, in lieu of
providing new and amended agreements, and notice of withdrawn
agreements, for the April 30, 2016 submission, Sec. 1026.58(c)(1) and
comment 58(c)(1)-3 permit a card issuer to submit to the Bureau a
complete, updated set of the credit card agreements the card issuer
offered to the public as of the calendar quarter ending March 31, 2016.
Section 1026.58(d) requires a card issuer to post and maintain on
its publicly available Web site the credit card agreements that the
issuer is required to submit to the Bureau under Sec. 1026.58(c).
Proposed Sec. 1026.58(g)(2) would provide that the suspended
submission requirement in proposed Sec. 1026.58(g)(1) would not affect
card issuers' obligations to post agreements on their own Web sites as
required by Sec. 1026.58(d) during the temporary suspension period.
Proposed comment 58(g)-3 would further explain this provision and
provide several examples.
The Bureau solicits comment on its proposal to temporarily suspend
the obligation card issuers would otherwise have under Sec. 1026.58(c)
to submit credit card agreements to the Bureau for the four quarterly
submissions that would otherwise be due to the Bureau by the first
business day on or after April 30, 2015; July 31, 2015; October 31,
2015; and January 31, 2016.
For the quarterly submission due on the first business day on or
after April 30, 2016, card issuers must follow any technical
specifications for submission that the Bureau releases. The Bureau
shall provide advance notice to card issuers of such technical
specifications. The Bureau is not seeking comment on possible technical
specifications for the credit card agreement submission process.
The Bureau notes that annual submission of college credit card
agreements and related data pursuant to Sec. 1026.57(d) and the
biannual submission of credit card pricing and availability information
pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 1646(b) are not affected by this proposal. At
present, the Bureau intends to continue using existing systems and
processes to receive those submissions, which are less frequent and
involve fewer issuers. At the time the Bureau implements a more
streamlined and automated electronic system for submission of quarterly
credit card agreements, however, the Bureau expects to review that
system's potential suitability for other submissions.\7\
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\7\ The Bureau proposed a requirement similar to that of Sec.
1026.58 for prepaid accounts. See 79 FR 77102, 77191 (Dec. 23,
2014). The Bureau noted that it ``expects to provide additional
details regarding the electronic submission process in connection
with the release of its final rule on this subject. Issuers will
have no submission obligations until the Bureau has issued technical
specifications addressing the form and manner for submission of
agreements. The Bureau intends for the streamlined electronic
submission process to be operational before proposed Sec.
1005.19(b) becomes effective.'' Id. at 77196. The Bureau intends to
explore whether the same streamlined electronic submission process
can be used to collect agreements from both card issuers and prepaid
account issuers.
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V. Proposed Effective Date
The Bureau proposes that the changes proposed herein take effect
immediately upon publication of a final rule in the Federal Register.
As discussed above, the Bureau is working to develop a more streamlined
and automated electronic submission system which would allow card
issuers to upload credit card agreements directly to the Bureau's
database. The Bureau is proposing an immediate effective date for its
temporary suspension of the requirement that card issuers submit credit
card agreements to the Bureau.
The Bureau seeks comment on whether its proposed changes should
take effect immediately upon publication of a final rule in the Federal
Register or if a later effective date is more appropriate.
VI. Section 1022(b)(2) of the Dodd-Frank Act
A. Overview
In developing the proposed rule, the Bureau has considered
potential benefits, costs, and impacts.\8\ The Bureau requests comment
on the preliminary analysis presented below as well as submissions of
additional data
[[Page 10420]]
that could inform the Bureau's analysis of the benefits, costs, and
impacts. The Bureau has consulted, or offered to consult with, the
prudential regulators, the Department of the Treasury, and the Federal
Trade Commission, including regarding consistency with any prudential,
market, or systemic objectives administered by such agencies.
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\8\ Specifically, section 1022(b)(2)(A) of the Dodd-Frank Act
calls for the Bureau to consider the potential benefits and costs of
a regulation to consumers and covered persons, including the
potential reduction of access by consumers to consumer financial
products or services; the impact on depository institutions and
credit unions with $10 billion or less in total assets as described
in section 1026 of the Dodd-Frank Act; and the impact on consumers
in rural areas.
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Pursuant to TILA section 122(d)(3), the Bureau maintains on its
public Web site a repository of the consumer credit card agreements
that card issuers submit pursuant to Sec. 1026.58(c). The electronic
folders in the repository are organized by quarter, back to the third
quarter of 2011, reflecting the transfer of authority to implement TILA
from the Board to the Bureau pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act. For each
quarter, the repository contains a copy of each agreement, in PDF
format, that was available to consumers as of the end of that quarter.
The repository also contains, for each quarter, a spreadsheet that
provides certain identifying information about each agreement and the
issuer thereof.
Proposed Sec. 1026.58(g) would temporarily suspend the requirement
in Sec. 1026.58(c) for card issuers to submit credit card agreements
to the Bureau. Under the proposed rule, card issuers would not be
required to make quarterly submissions to the Bureau for the
submissions that would otherwise be due by the first business day on or
after April 30, 2015; July 31, 2015; October 31, 2015; and January 31,
2016. Consequently, the Bureau would not provide these agreements on
its Web site. As discussed previously, however, the Bureau intends to
manually compile credit card agreements from certain large card issuer
Web sites as of approximately September 2015 and to post those
agreements on its Web site. Card issuers would resume submitting
agreements on a quarterly basis to the Bureau beginning with the
submission due by the first business day on or after April 30, 2016.
The Bureau is not proposing to modify the requirement that card issuers
post currently-offered agreements on their own Web sites in a manner
that is prominent and readily accessible by the public (Sec.
1026.58(d)) or that card issuers make all open agreements available on
their Web sites or to cardholders upon request (Sec. 1026.58(e)).
B. Potential Benefits and Costs to Consumers and Covered Persons
The Bureau is not aware of any significant costs to consumers that
might arise from the temporary suspension of the quarterly submission
requirement and the absence of these agreements on the Bureau's Web
site. While the Bureau's Web site can assist consumers in comparing
credit card agreements when shopping for a new card, the Bureau
believes that most consumers are not likely to use the repository to
identify desirable credit cards, in part because they would not know if
they qualified for the cards they identified. The Bureau believes that
consumers are more likely to identify a number of cards for which they
qualify before comparing the terms and conditions for those cards.
These terms and conditions will remain readily available to consumers
on the issuers' Web sites. Similarly, a consumer who wanted to replace
a lost agreement would likely find it easier to contact the issuer than
to search the repository because the agreement might no longer be
available to new cardholders, in which case the consumer would need to
search across multiple quarters to find the agreement, and even then
might lack confidence that she had found the version of the agreement
that applied to her.
On the other hand, the Bureau recognizes that consumers who would
qualify for almost any card on the market and who want to learn about
the features of a large number of products might find the repository
useful. The proposed rule might increase the cost to these consumers of
searching for desirable credit cards. The Bureau believes that this
cost would be small, however, given that the Bureau is suspending the
submission requirement for just four quarters. The Bureau requests
comment on this point. Similarly, the Bureau recognizes the possibility
that entities may use the information in the repository to develop more
competitive products or extract information that they could sell or
otherwise provide to consumers or third parties. However, the Bureau
believes that this is unlikely given that the agreements, while
generally in searchable PDF format, do not contain uniform data or text
fields that would provide the same type of information in fixed
locations across files. The Bureau requests comment on this point as
well.
The Bureau believes that the proposal would provide issuers with a
minor but tangible benefit. For the third quarter of 2014, 446 issuers
had 1,833 agreements in the Bureau's database. While 169 issuers had
just one agreement, the median number of agreements per issuer was two
and the average was four. Four issuers had over 50 agreements. In the
third quarter alone, 103 issuers submitted 429 agreements; the median
and mean were again two and four, respectively. Three issuers submitted
over 25 agreements. All issuers would be able to suspend their
submissions for four quarters, which would remove some compliance
burden. The Bureau believes that the burden is small on average,
although it may be higher for the entities that provide a large number
of agreements.\9\ The Bureau requests comment on this point.
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\9\ The Bureau notes that card issuers who submit a smaller
number of agreements to the Bureau, but that only submit new and
amended agreements and notice of withdrawn agreements, may have
higher compliance costs than issuers who resubmit each quarter all
agreements that are currently available to consumers. Thus, using
the number of agreements submitted each quarter does not strictly
track compliance cost. However, the Bureau expects that the number
of agreements submitted and compliance cost are correlated even for
those who submit all available agreements each quarter because they
still have to ensure they are not sending agreements that are no
longer offered to new customers or are entirely defunct.
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As noted above, the Bureau recognizes the possibility that entities
could use the information in the repository to develop more competitive
products or extract information that they could sell or otherwise
provide to consumers or third parties. However, as mentioned above, the
Bureau believes that this is unlikely given the difficulties in using
files in PDF format for this purpose. To the extent that entities are
inclined to use the files in the repository to extract information, the
Bureau believes that manual collection of the credit card agreements
from certain large card issuer Web sites as of approximately September
2015 and posting those agreements on the Bureau Web site will mitigate
the impact of the proposed rule on these entities.
As an alternative, the Bureau considered coupling the temporary
suspension with a requirement to provide the Bureau, after the
suspension expired, with the agreements that they would have been
required to submit if not for the suspension. Compared to the proposed
rule, this alternative would have imposed smaller costs on consumers
and provided smaller benefits to issuers. Since the costs to consumers
under the proposed rule are small to begin with, the Bureau believes
that the proposed rule is superior to the alternative. The Bureau
requests comment on this point.
C. Impact on Covered Persons With No More Than $10 Billion in Assets
The majority of banks and credit unions that provide agreements
under Sec. 1026.58(c) have no more than $10 billion in assets. Thus,
the majority of banks and credit unions that would benefit from the
proposed rule have no more than $10 billion in assets. On the other
hand, larger banks and credit
[[Page 10421]]
unions generally provide the Bureau with more agreements each quarter.
Thus, the proposed rule would generally provide larger banks and credit
unions with a greater reduction in burden compared to that obtained by
banks and credit unions with no more than $10 billion in assets.
D. Impact on Access to Credit
The Bureau does not believe that there will be an adverse impact on
access to credit, or any other consumer financial products or services,
resulting from the proposed rule. The proposed rule imposes no direct
requirements on consumer financial products or services or providers of
consumer financial products or services or on the eligibility of
consumers for consumer financial products or services. As discussed
above, the proposed rule imposes at most a minor additional cost on
certain consumers searching for a credit card.
As noted above, the Bureau recognizes the possibility that entities
could use the information in the repository to develop more competitive
products or extract information that they could sell or otherwise
provide to consumers or third parties. However, the Bureau believes
that this is unlikely given the difficulties in using files in PDF
format for this purpose and the fact that the suspension would last for
just four quarters. Thus, the proposed rule should not inhibit
activities that would improve access to credit such as the development
of more competitive credit products or products that would reduce
search costs.
E. Impact on Consumers in Rural Areas
The Bureau does not believe that the proposed rule would have a
unique impact on consumers in rural areas.
VII. Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), as amended by the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996, requires each
agency to consider the potential impact of its regulations on small
entities, including small businesses, small governmental units, and
small nonprofit organizations. The RFA defines a ``small business'' as
a business that meets the size standard developed by the Small Business
Administration pursuant to the Small Business Act.
The RFA generally requires an agency to conduct an initial
regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA) and a final regulatory
flexibility analysis (FRFA) of any rule subject to notice-and-comment
rulemaking requirements, unless the agency certifies that the rule will
not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small
entities. The Bureau also is subject to certain additional procedures
under the RFA involving the convening of a panel to consult with small
business representatives prior to proposing a rule for which an IRFA is
required.
An IRFA is not required here because the proposal, if adopted,
would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of
small entities. The Bureau does not expect the proposal to impose costs
on small entities. As discussed above, the Bureau believes that the
proposed rule would cause a small reduction in costs on all issuers,
including small entity issuers, who would otherwise be required to
submit agreements to the Bureau.
Accordingly, the undersigned certifies that this proposal, if
adopted, would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities.
VIII. Paperwork Reduction Act Analysis
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et
seq.), Federal agencies are generally required to seek the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval for information collection
requirements prior to implementation. Under the PRA, the Bureau may not
conduct or sponsor and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
person is not required to respond to an information collection unless
the information collection displays a valid control number assigned by
OMB.
The Bureau is currently seeking a new OMB control number for the
information collection in Sec. 1026.58(c).\10\ The Bureau expects to
obtain this control number prior to the first business day on or after
April 30, 2016, which is the date on which the information collection
in Sec. 1026.58(c) would resume if the proposed rule were finalized.
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\10\ See 79 FR 62421 (Oct. 17, 2014); 80 FR 8291 (Feb. 17,
2015). The OMB control number would also apply to the information
collection in Sec. 1026.57.
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The Bureau welcomes comments on any aspect of this proposal for
purposes of the PRA. Comments should be submitted as outlined in the
ADDRESSES section above. All comments will become a matter of public
record.
List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 1026
Advertising, Consumer protection, Credit, Credit unions, Mortgages,
National banks, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Savings
associations, Truth in lending.
Authority and Issuance
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, the Bureau proposes to
amend 12 CFR part 1026, as follows:
PART 1026--TRUTH IN LENDING (REGULATION Z)
0
1. The authority citation for part 1026 continues to read as follows:
Authority: 12 U.S.C. 2601, 2603-2605, 2607, 2609, 2617, 5511,
5512, 5532, 5581; 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.
Subpart G--Special Rules Applicable to Credit Card Accounts and
Open-End Credit Offered to College Students
0
2. Section 1026.58 is amended by adding paragraph (g) to read as
follows:
Sec. 1026.58 Internet posting of credit card agreements.
* * * * *
(g) Temporary suspension of agreement submission requirement--(1)
Quarterly submissions. The quarterly submission requirement in
paragraph (c) of this section is suspended for the submissions that
would otherwise be due to the Bureau by the first business day on or
after April 30, 2015; July 31, 2015; October 31, 2015; and January 31,
2016.
(2) Posting of agreements offered to the public. Nothing in
paragraph (g)(1) of this section shall affect the agreement posting
requirements in paragraph (d) of this section.
0
3. In Supplement I to Part 1026, under Section 1026.58--Internet
Posting of Credit Card Agreements, add subsection 58(g) Temporary
Suspension of Agreement Submission Requirement to read as follows:
Supplement I to Part 1026--Official Interpretations
* * * * *
Section 1026.58--Internet Posting of Credit Card Agreements
* * * * *
58(g) Temporary Suspension of Agreement Submission Requirement
1. Suspended quarterly submission requirement. Pursuant to Sec.
1026.58(g)(1), card issuers are not required to make quarterly
submissions to the Bureau, as otherwise required by Sec.
1026.58(c), for the submissions that would otherwise be due by the
first business day on or after April 30, 2015; July 31, 2015;
October 31, 2015; and January 31, 2016. Specifically, a card issuer
is not required to submit information about the issuer and its
agreements pursuant to Sec. 1026.58(c)(1)(i), new credit card
agreements pursuant to Sec. 1026.58(c)(1)(ii), amended agreements
pursuant to Sec. 1026.58(c)(1)(iii) and (c)(3), or notification of
withdrawn
[[Page 10422]]
agreements pursuant to Sec. 1026.58(c)(1)(iv) and (c)(4) through
(7) for those four quarters.
2. Resuming submission of credit card agreements to the Bureau.
Beginning with the submission due on the first business day on or
after April 30, 2016, card issuers shall resume submitting credit
card agreements on a quarterly basis to the Bureau pursuant to Sec.
1026.58(c). A card issuer shall submit agreements for the prior
calendar quarter (that is, the calendar quarter ending March 31,
2016), as specified in Sec. 1026.58(c)(1)(ii) through (iv) and
(c)(3) through (7), to the Bureau no later than the first business
day on or after April 30, 2016.
i. Specifically, the submission due on the first business day on
or after April 30, 2016 shall contain, as applicable:
A. Identifying information about the card issuer and the
agreements submitted, including the issuer's name, address, and
identifying number (such as an RSSD ID number or tax identification
number), pursuant to Sec. 1026.58(c)(1)(i);
B. The credit card agreements that the card issuer offered to
the public as of the last business day of the calendar quarter
ending March 31, 2016 that the card issuer had not previously
submitted to the Bureau as of the first business day on or after
January 31, 2015, pursuant to Sec. 1026.58(c)(1)(ii);
C. Any credit card agreement previously submitted to the Bureau
that was amended since the last business day of the calendar quarter
ending December 31, 2014 and that the card issuer offered to the
public as of the last business day of the calendar quarter ending
March 31, 2016, pursuant to Sec. 1026.58(c)(1)(iii) and (c)(3); and
D. Notification regarding any credit card agreement previously
submitted to the Bureau that the issuer is withdrawing, pursuant to
Sec. 1026.58(c)(1)(iv) and (c)(4) through (7).
ii. In lieu of the submission described in comment 58(g)-2.i.B
through D, Sec. 1026.58(c)(1) permits a card issuer to submit to
the Bureau a complete, updated set of the credit card agreements the
card issuer offered to the public as of the calendar quarter ending
March 31, 2016. See comment 58(c)(1)-3.
3. Continuing obligation to post agreements on a card issuer's
own Web site. Section 1026.58(d) requires a card issuer to post and
maintain on its publicly available Web site the credit card
agreements that the issuer is required to submit to the Bureau under
Sec. 1026.58(c). Pursuant to Sec. 1026.58(g)(2), during the
temporary suspension period set forth in Sec. 1026.58(g)(1), a card
issuer shall continue to post its agreements to its own publicly
available Web site as required by Sec. 1026.58(d) using the
agreements it would have otherwise submitted to the Bureau under
Sec. 1026.58(c). For example, for purposes of Sec. 1026.58(d)(4),
a card issuer must continue to update the agreements posted on its
own Web site at least as frequently as the quarterly schedule
required for submission of agreements to the Bureau set forth in
Sec. 1026.58(c)(1), notwithstanding the temporary suspension of
submission requirements in Sec. 1026.58(g)(1). Similarly, for
purposes of Sec. 1026.58(d)(2), agreements posted by a card issuer
on its own Web site must continue to conform to the form and content
requirements set forth in Sec. 1026.58(c)(8).
* * * * *
Dated: February 19, 2015.
Richard Cordray,
Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2015-03879 Filed 2-25-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P
