Semiannual Regulatory Agenda, 40386-40389 [2017-16984]

Agencies

• BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 163 (Thursday, August 24, 2017)]
[Unknown Section]
[Pages 40386-40389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16984]



[[Page 40385]]

Vol. 82

Thursday,

No. 163

August 24, 2017

Part XXII





Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection





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Semiannual Regulatory Agenda

Federal Register / Vol. 82 , No. 163 / Thursday, August 24, 2017 / 
Unified Agenda

[[Page 40386]]


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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 (CFPB or Bureau) 
is publishing this agenda as part of the Spring 2017 Unified Agenda of 
Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The CFPB reasonably 
anticipates having the regulatory matters identified below under 
consideration during the period from May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018. The 
next agenda will be published in fall 2017, and will update this agenda 
through fall 2018. 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 April 7, 2017.

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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CFPB is publishing its spring 2017 
Agenda as part of the Spring 2017 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 CFPB reasonably anticipates having under 
consideration during the period from May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018, as 
described further below.\1\ The CFPB's participation in the Unified 
Agenda is voluntary. The complete Unified Agenda is available to the 
public at the following Web site: https://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 CFPB has rulemaking, supervisory, enforcement, and other 
authorities relating to consumer financial products and services. These 
authorities include the ability to issue regulations under more than a 
dozen Federal consumer financial laws, which transferred to the CFPB 
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 CFPB is working on a wide range of 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 providing consumers with timely and 
understandable information to make responsible decisions about 
financial transactions; protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive, or 
abusive acts and practices and from discrimination; addressing 
outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulations; enforcing 
Federal consumer financial law consistently in order to promote fair 
competition, without regard to the status of a covered person as a 
depository institution; and promoting the transparent and efficient 
operation of markets for consumer financial products and services to 
facilitate access and innovation. The CFPB's regulatory work in pursuit 
of those objectives can be grouped into three main categories: (1) 
Implementing statutory directives; (2) other efforts to address market 
failures, facilitate fair competition among financial services 
providers, and improve consumer understanding; and (3) modernizing, 
clarifying, and streamlining consumer financial regulations to reduce 
unwarranted regulatory burdens.

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 continuing efforts to facilitate 
implementation of critical consumer protections under the Dodd-Frank 
Act that guard against mortgage market practices that contributed to 
the nation's most significant financial crisis in several decades. 
Since 2013, the Bureau has issued regulations as directed by the Dodd-
Frank Act to implement certain protections for mortgage originations 
and servicing, integrate various Federal mortgage disclosures, and 
amend mortgage reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage 
Disclosure Act (HMDA). The Bureau is conducting follow-up rulemakings 
as warranted to address issues that have arisen during the 
implementation process for these rules and to provide greater 
clarification and certainty to financial services providers. The Bureau 
has three such efforts underway at this time:
     The Bureau expects to issue a final rule this summer to 
make certain adjustments and clarifications to prior rules mandated by 
the Dodd-Frank Act to combine several Federal mortgage disclosures that 
consumers receive in connection with applying for and closing on a 
mortgage loan under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate 
Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The consolidated disclosures rule is 
the cornerstone of the Bureau's broader ``Know Before You Owe'' 
mortgage initiative.
     The Bureau is conducting two follow-up rulemakings to 
facilitate compliance with its prior rule to implement Dodd-Frank 
amendments to HMDA, which largely takes effect in 2018, as well as 
provisions of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act that also concern data 
collection and reporting. The Bureau is also continuing to work closely 
with industry and other regulators to streamline and modernize HMDA 
data collection and reporting in conjunction with implementation of the 
Dodd-Frank amendments.
     The Bureau is expecting to issue a small final rule later 
this summer making technical corrections to the mortgage servicing rule 
that the Bureau issued in August 2016 under Regulation X (which 
implements RESPA) and Regulation Z (which implements TILA).
    The Bureau is also starting work to implement section 1071 of the 
Dodd-Frank Act, which amends ECOA to require financial institutions to 
report information concerning credit applications made by women-owned, 
minority-owned, and small businesses. The Bureau is focusing on 
outreach and research to develop its understanding of the players, 
products, and practices in the small business lending market and of the 
potential ways to implement section 1071. The CFPB then expects to 
begin developing proposed regulations concerning the data to be 
collected, potential ways to minimize burdens on lenders, and 
appropriate procedures and privacy protections needed for

[[Page 40387]]

information-gathering and public disclosure.

Other Efforts To Address Market Failures, Facilitate Fair Competition 
Among Financial Services Providers, and Improve Consumer Understanding

    The Bureau is considering rules in places where there are 
substantial market failures that make it difficult for consumers to 
engage in informed decision making and otherwise protect their own 
interests. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act directs the Bureau to focus 
on activities that promote fair competition among financial services 
providers, which itself has substantial benefits for consumers.
    For example, the Bureau released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(NPRM) in June 2016, building on several years of research documenting 
consumer harms from practices related to payday loans, auto title 
loans, and other similar credit products. In particular, the Bureau is 
concerned that product structure, lack of underwriting, and certain 
other lender practices are interfering with consumer decision making 
with regard to such products and trapping large numbers of consumers in 
extended cycles of debt that they do not expect. The Bureau is also 
concerned that certain lenders' payment collection practices are 
causing substantial harm to consumers, including substantial unexpected 
fees and heightened risk of losing their checking accounts. The Bureau 
continues to believe that the concerns articulated in the NPRM are 
substantial, and is carefully considering more than one million 
comments received in response to the proposal with respect to how best 
to address those concerns in a manner consistent with the Bureau's 
objectives under the Dodd-Frank Act.
    The Bureau is also considering comments received in response to its 
May 2016 NPRM concerning the use of agreements between financial 
services providers and consumers providing for arbitration of any 
future disputes. The rulemaking follows on a groundbreaking study by 
the Bureau, as mandated by Congress under the Dodd-Frank Act. The 
Bureau is concerned that these ``mandatory pre-dispute arbitration 
agreements'' are being used to prevent consumers from joining together 
to obtain relief for legal violations concerning consumer financial 
products and services, and that financial services providers who use 
such agreements therefore have far weaker incentives to obey the law 
than providers who do not. The Bureau continues to believe that the 
concerns articulated in the NPRM are substantial, and is carefully 
considering more than 120,000 comments received in response to the 
proposal with respect to how best to address those concerns in a manner 
consistent with the Bureau's objectives under the Dodd-Frank Act.
    The Bureau is also engaged in rulemaking activities regarding the 
debt collection market, which continues to be the single largest source 
of complaints to the Federal Government of any industry. The Bureau is 
concerned that because consumers cannot choose their debt collectors or 
``vote with their feet,'' they have less ability to protect themselves 
from harmful practices. In January 2017, the Bureau published the 
results of a survey of consumers about their experiences with debt 
collection. 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 under the Small Business Regulatory 
Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) 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. Building on the 
feedback received through the SBREFA process and other sources, the 
Bureau has now decided to issue a proposed rule later in 2017 
concerning FDCPA collectors' communications practices and consumer 
disclosures. The Bureau intends to follow up separately at a later time 
about concerns regarding information flows between creditors and FDCPA 
collectors and about potential rules to govern creditors that collect 
their own debts.
    The Bureau is also engaged in policy analysis and further research 
initiatives in preparation for a potential rulemaking regarding 
overdraft programs on checking accounts. After several years of 
research, the Bureau believes that there are consumer protection 
concerns with regard to these programs. Consumers do not shop based on 
overdraft fee amounts and policies, and the market for overdraft 
services does not appear to be competitive. Under the current 
regulatory regime consumers can opt in to permit their financial 
institution to charge fees for ATM and point-of-sale debit overdrafts, 
but the complexity of the system may complicate consumer decision 
making. Despite widespread use of disclosure forms, the regime produces 
substantially different opt-in rates across different depository 
institutions and the Bureau's supervisory and enforcement work 
indicates that some institutions are aggressively steering consumers to 
opt in. The CFPB is engaged in consumer testing of revised opt-in forms 
and considering whether other regulatory changes may be warranted to 
enhance consumer decision making.
    In addition, the Bureau is continuing rulemaking activities that 
will ensure meaningful supervision of non-bank financial services 
providers in order to create a more level playing field for depository 
and non-depository institutions. Under section 1024 of the Dodd-Frank 
Act, the CFPB is authorized to supervise ``larger participants'' of 
markets for various consumer financial products and services as defined 
by Bureau rule. The Bureau has defined the threshold for larger 
participants in several markets in past rulemakings, and is now working 
to develop a proposed rule that would define non-bank ``larger 
participants'' in the market for personal loans, including consumer 
installment loans and vehicle title loans. The Bureau is also 
considering whether rules to require registration of these or other 
non-depository lenders would facilitate supervision, as has been 
suggested to the Bureau by both consumer advocates and industry groups.
    The Bureau's recent rulemaking concerning prepaid financial 
products also advanced fairness and consistency objectives by creating 
a uniform disclosure regime and providing basic protections similar to 
those enjoyed by users of debit cards and credit cards. The Bureau is 
in the process of working with industry to facilitate implementation of 
this rule, and recently proposed to extend the October 2017, effective 
date by six months in order to ensure a smoother transition for 
consumers and industry. The Bureau is also considering concerns raised 
by industry participants regarding certain substantive aspects of the 
prepaid rule that they assert are posing particular complexities for 
implementation or may have negative consequences for consumers that 
were not anticipated or fully explained by commenters in the course of 
the original rulemaking. The Bureau expects to issue a proposal to make 
some substantive changes to the rule in response to these concerns 
later this spring.

[[Page 40388]]

Modernizing, Streamlining, and Clarifying Consumer Financial 
Regulations

    The Bureau's third group of activities concerns modernizing, 
streamlining, and clarifying consumer financial regulations and other 
activities to reduce unwarranted regulatory burdens as directed by the 
Dodd-Frank Act. Since most of the Federal consumer financial laws that 
the Bureau administers were enacted in the 1960s and 1970s, there is 
often substantial demand for these activities from both industry and 
consumer advocates alike.
    In addition to some of the projects mentioned above that advance 
these objectives, such as the HMDA processes modernization and debt 
collection rulemakings, the Bureau is pursuing a number of other 
research, policy, and rulemaking initiatives. For example, section 
1022(d) of the Dodd-Frank Act specifically directs the Bureau to assess 
the effectiveness of significant rules five years after they are 
implemented, including seeking public comment. The Bureau recently 
published a request for comment on its plan to assess the effectiveness 
of the rule the Bureau adopted to implement provisions of the Dodd-
Frank Act regulating consumer remittance transfers of money to 
international recipients,\2\ and expects to seek comment later this 
year on its plans to assess the effectiveness of certain of the Dodd-
Frank Act mortgage rules discussed above. As required by section 
1022(d), those notices will solicit comments on recommendations for 
modifying, expanding, or eliminating the rules in regulation. The 
Bureau expects to conduct substantial research for each of the section 
1022(d) assessments, which will not only lay the foundation for 
subsequent decisions as to whether adjustments to the specific rules 
are warranted but also to continue to refine its thinking about how 
best to assess the benefits and costs of individual regulations more 
generally.
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    \2\ 82 FR 15009 (Mar. 24, 2017).
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    The Bureau is also considering rules to modernize the Bureau's 
database of credit card agreements 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 Credit Card 
Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act) 
requires credit card issuers to post their credit card agreements to 
their Internet site, and submit those agreements to the Bureau to be 
posted on an Internet site maintained by the Bureau. The Bureau 
believes an improved submission process and database would be more 
efficient for both industry and the Bureau and would allow consumers 
and the general public to access and analyze information more easily.
    The Bureau has also launched several initiatives focusing on ways 
to facilitate technological and product innovation that could benefit 
consumers. These include the CFPB's Trial Disclosure Waiver Program, 
which is designed to implement the Bureau's authority under section 
1032 of the Dodd-Frank Act to grant financial services providers 
temporary waivers to conduct controlled field experiments of consumer 
disclosures. In addition, the Bureau has published a policy to 
facilitate the issuance of ``No Action Letters'' indicating that Bureau 
staff has no present intention to recommend enforcement or supervisory 
action with respect to specific applicants who wish to provide 
innovative financial products or services that promise substantial 
consumer benefit but raise substantial uncertainty as to application of 
existing consumer financial laws. The Bureau has also recently 
published two Requests for Information (RFI) seeking to explore the 
potential benefits and risks to consumers of recent developments in the 
marketplace relating to use of consumer data. Specifically, one RFI 
focused on how consumers are exercising control over their own personal 
financial data, including the data maintained by their financial 
institutions, both through direct access of the data and consumers' 
sharing of such data with third parties such as companies that use 
aggregated data to provide consumers with financial advice and tracking 
services across multiple types of financial accounts.\3\ The other 
concerned use of so-called ``alternative data'' in the credit process, 
including to assess the creditworthiness of consumers who do not have 
substantial traditional credit histories.\4\
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    \3\ 81 FR 83806 (Nov. 22, 2016).
    \4\ 82 FR 11183 (Feb. 17, 2017).
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    The Bureau also expects later this year to begin 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. 
The Bureau had previously sought feedback on the inherited rules as a 
whole,\5\ and identified and executed several burden reduction projects 
from that undertaking.\6\ The Bureau has largely completed those 
initial projects,\7\ and believes that the next logical step is 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 notes that other Federal financial services regulators have 
engaged in these types of reviews over time, and believes that such an 
initiative would be a natural complement to its work to facilitate 
implementation of new regulations.
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    \5\ 76 FR 75825 (Dec. 5, 2011).
    \6\ See 79 FR 64057 (Oct. 28, 2014); 78 FR 25818 (May 3, 2013); 
78 FR 18221 (Mar. 26, 2013). In some cases Congress took action 
related to the same topics identified as part of the Bureau's 
streamlining initiative. See, e.g., 81 FR 44801 (July 11, 2016); 78 
FR 18221 (Mar. 26, 2013).
    \7\ The Bureau expects to complete work later this year on a 
final rule amending certain requirements concerning annual privacy 
notices under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The Bureau conducted a 
prior rulemaking to make it easier for financial services providers 
to deliver such notices via their Web sites. 79 FR 64057 (Oct. 28, 
2014). Congress then amended the underlying law to create a broader 
exception. That amendment took effect in December 2015, and the 
Bureau is completing certain conforming regulatory amendments to 
reflect the statutory change.
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    The Bureau has also recently formed an internal task force to 
coordinate and deepen the Agency's focus on concerns about regulatory 
burdens and on projects to identify and reduce unwarranted regulatory 
burdens consistent with the Bureau's objectives under section 1021 of 
the Dodd-Frank Act.

Further Planning

    Finally, the Bureau is continuing to conduct outreach and research 
to assess issues in various other markets for consumer financial 
products and services beyond those discussed above. As this work 
continues, the Bureau will evaluate possible policy responses, 
including possible rulemaking actions, taking into account the critical 
need for and effectiveness of various policy tools. The Bureau will 
update its regulatory agenda in fall 2018, to reflect the results of 
this further prioritization and planning.

    Dated: April 7, 2017.
 Kelly Thompson Cochran,
Assistant Director for Regulations, Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection.

[[Page 40389]]



           Consumer Financial Protection Bureau--Prerule Stage
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                                                           Regulation
       Sequence No.                    Title             Identifier No.
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267.......................  Business Lending Data              3170-AA09
                             (Regulation B).
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        Consumer Financial Protection Bureau--Proposed Rule Stage
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                                                           Regulation
       Sequence No.                    Title             Identifier No.
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268.......................  Payday, Vehicle Title, and         3170-AA40
                             Certain High-Cost
                             Installment Loans.
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CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU (CFPB)

Prerule Stage

267. Business Lending Data (Regulation B)

    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 and 
maintained, 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 is focusing on outreach and research to develop its 
understanding of the players, products, and practices in the small 
business lending market and of the potential ways to implement section 
1071. The CFPB then expects to begin developing proposed regulations 
concerning the data to be collected, potential ways to minimize burdens 
on lenders, and appropriate procedures and privacy protections needed 
for information-gathering and public disclosure.
    Timetable:

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               Action                    Date            FR Cite
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Prerule Activities..................   06/00/17
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    Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes.
    Agency Contact: Elena Grigera Babinecz, Office of Regulations, 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Phone: 202 435-7700.
    RIN: 3170-AA09

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU (CFPB)

Proposed Rule Stage

268. Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans

    Legal Authority: 12 U.S.C. 5531; 12 U.S.C. 5532; 12 U.S.C. 5512; 12 
U.S.C. 5551
    Abstract: The Bureau is conducting a rulemaking to address consumer 
harms from practices related to payday loans and other similar credit 
products, including failure to determine whether consumers have the 
ability to repay without default or reborrowing and certain payment 
collection practices. The Bureau released a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking in June 2016 that would identify it as an abusive and unfair 
practice for a lender to make a covered loan without reasonably 
determining that the consumer has the ability to repay the loan. Among 
other things, the proposal would require that, before making a covered 
loan, a lender must reasonably determine that the consumer has the 
ability to repay the loan. The Bureau received more than 1 million 
comments on the proposal.
    Timetable:

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               Action                    Date            FR Cite
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NPRM................................   07/22/16  81 FR 47863
Request For Information.............   07/22/16  81 FR 47781
NPRM Comment Period End.............   10/07/16
Request For Information Comment        11/07/16
 Period End.
Complete Initial Review of Comments    06/00/17
 to NPRM.
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    Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes.
    Agency Contact: Mark Morelli, Office of Regulations, Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau, Phone: 202 435-7700.
    RIN: 3170-AA40

[FR Doc. 2017-16984 Filed 8-23-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P