Request for Information Regarding Bureau Civil Investigative Demands and Associated Processes, 3686-3687 [2018-01435]

Agencies

• BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 18 (Friday, January 26, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3686-3687]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-01435]



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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

[Docket No. CFPB-2018-0001]


Request for Information Regarding Bureau Civil Investigative 
Demands and Associated Processes

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

ACTION: Notice and request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is 
seeking comments and information from interested parties to assist the 
Bureau in assessing potential changes that can be implemented to the 
Bureau's Civil Investigative Demand (CID) processes, consistent with 
law, to consider whether any changes to the processes would be 
appropriate.

DATES: Comments must be received by March 27, 2018.

ADDRESSES: You may submit responsive information and other comments, 
identified by Docket No. CFPB-2018-0001, by any of the following 
methods:
     Electronic: Go to https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include Docket 
No. CFPB-2018-0001 in the subject line of the message.
     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, 1700 G 
Street NW, Washington, DC 20552.
    Instructions: The Bureau encourages the early submission of 
comments. All submissions must include the document title and docket 
number. 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 1700 G St NW, 
Washington, DC 20552, on official business days between the hours of 10 
a.m. and 5 p.m. eastern standard time. You can make an appointment to 
inspect the documents by telephoning 202-435-7275.
    All submissions in response to this request for information, 
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, or names of other individuals, should not be included. 
Submissions will not be edited to remove any identifying or contact 
information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general inquiries and submission 
process questions, please call Monica Jackson at (202) 435-7275.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the course of its investigatory 
activities, and as authorized by 12 U.S.C. 5562 and 12 CFR 1080.6, the 
Bureau issues CIDs to entities and persons whom the Bureau has reason 
to believe may have information relevant to a violation of the laws the 
Bureau enforces. These demands require recipients to provide the Bureau 
with information in varying forms: Most frequently some combination of 
written answers to interrogatories, written reports, documents, 
tangible things, and testimony. Recipients are required to produce the 
requested information to the Bureau, which uses such information to 
further investigations of potential violations of Federal consumer 
financial laws.
    To assess the efficiency and effectiveness of its existing CID 
processes, the Bureau is, as described below, issuing this request for 
information seeking public comment on how best to achieve meaningful 
burden reduction or other improvement to the CID processes while 
continuing to achieve the Bureau's statutory and regulatory objectives.

Overview of This Request for Information

    The Bureau is using this request for information to seek public 
input regarding the exercise of its authority to issue CIDs, including 
from entities who have received one or more CIDs from the Bureau, or 
members of the bar who represent these entities.
    The issuance of CIDs is an essential tool for fulfilling the 
Bureau's statutory mission of enforcing Federal consumer financial law. 
The Bureau issues CIDs in accordance with the law and in furtherance of 
its investigatory objectives. The Bureau understands, however, that 
responding to a CID can impose burdens on the recipients. Entities who 
have received one or more CIDs, members of the bar who represent these 
entities, and members of the public are likely to have useful 
information and perspectives on the benefits and burdens of the 
Bureau's existing processes related to CIDs. The Bureau is especially 
interested in better understanding how its processes related to CIDs 
may be updated, streamlined, or revised to better achieve the Bureau's 
statutory and regulatory objectives, while minimizing burdens, 
consistent with applicable law, and how to align the Bureau's CID 
processes with those of other agencies with similar authorities. 
Interested parties may also be well-positioned to identify those parts 
of the Bureau's processes related to CIDs that are most in need of 
improvement, and, thus, assist the Bureau in prioritizing and properly 
tailoring its review process. In short, engaging CID recipients, 
potential CID recipients, and the public in an open, transparent 
process will help inform the Bureau's review of its processes related 
to CIDs.

Questions for Commenters

    To allow the Bureau to more effectively evaluate suggestions, the 
Bureau requests that, where possible, comments include:
     Specific suggestions regarding any potential updates or 
modifications to the Bureau's practices regarding the formulation, 
issuance, or modification of CIDs consistent with the Bureau's 
regulatory and statutory objectives, including, in as much detail as 
possible, the potential update or modification, supporting data or 
other information such as cost information or information concerning 
alignment with the processes of other agencies with similar 
authorities; and
     Specific identification of any aspects of the Bureau's CID 
processes that should not be modified, including supporting data or 
other information such as cost information or information concerning 
alignment with the processes of other agencies with similar 
authorities.
    The following list of questions represents a preliminary attempt by 
the Bureau to identify elements of Bureau processes related to CIDs on 
which it should immediately focus. This non-exhaustive list is meant to 
assist in the formulation of comments and is not intended to restrict 
the issues that may be addressed. In addressing these questions or 
others, the Bureau requests that commenters identify with specificity 
the Bureau regulations or practices at issue, providing legal citations 
where appropriate and available.
    The Bureau is seeking feedback on all aspects of its civil 
investigative demand process, including but not limited to:
    1. The Bureau's processes for initiating investigations, including 
12 CFR 1080.4's delegation of authority to initiate investigations to 
the Assistant Director of the Office of Enforcement

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and the Deputy Assistant Directors of the Office of Enforcement;
    2. The Bureau's processes for the issuance of CIDs, including the 
non-delegable authority of the Director, Assistant Director of the 
Office of Enforcement, and the Deputy Assistant Directors of the Office 
of Enforcement to issue CIDs;
    3. Specific steps that the Bureau could take to improve CID 
recipients' understanding of investigations, whether through the 
notification of purpose included in each CID or through other avenues, 
including facilitating a better understanding of the specific types of 
information sought by the CID;
    4. The nature and scope of requests included in Bureau CIDs, 
including whether topics, questions, or requests for written reports 
effectively achieve the Bureau's statutory and regulatory objectives, 
while minimizing burdens, consistent with applicable law, and the 
extent to which the meet and confer process helps achieve these 
objectives;
    5. The timeframes associated with each step of the Bureau's CID 
process, including return dates, and the specific timeframes for 
meeting and conferring, and petitioning to modify or set aside a CID;
    6. The Bureau's taking of testimony from an entity, including 
whether 12 CFR 1080.6(a)(4)(ii), and/or the Bureau's processes should 
be modified to make expressly clear that the standards applicable to 
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(6) also apply to the Bureau's 
taking of testimony from an entity;
    7. The Bureau's processes for handling the inadvertent production 
of privileged information, including whether 12 CFR 1080.8(c) and/or 
the Bureau's processes should be modified in order to make expressly 
clear that the standards applicable to Federal Rule of Evidence 502 
also apply to documents inadvertently produced in response to a CID;
    8. The rights afforded to witnesses by 12 CFR 1080.9, including 
limitations on the role of counsel described in 12 CFR 1080.9(b) in 
light of the statutory delineation of objections set forth in 12 U.S.C. 
5562(c)(13)(D)(iii);
    9. The Bureau's processes concerning meeting and conferring with 
recipients of CIDs, including, for example, negotiations regarding 
modifications and the delegation of authority to the Assistant Director 
of the Office of Enforcement and Deputy Assistant Directors of the 
Office of Enforcement to negotiate and approve the terms of 
satisfactory compliance with civil investigative demands and extending 
the time for compliance;
    10. The Bureau's requirements for responding to CIDs, including 
certification requirements, and the Bureau's CID document submission 
standards; and
    11. The Bureau's processes concerning CID recipients' petitions to 
modify or set aside Bureau CIDs, including:
    a. Whether it is appropriate for Bureau investigators to provide 
the Director with a statement setting out a response to the petition 
without serving that response on the petitioner;
    b. Whether petitions and the Director's orders should be made 
public, consistent with applicable laws; and
    c. The costs and benefits of the petition to modify or set aside 
process, vis-[agrave]-vis direct adjudication in Federal court, in 
light of the statutory requirement for the petition process and the 
fact that CIDs are not self-enforcing.

    Authority:  12 U.S.C. 5511(c).

    Dated: January 18, 2018.
Mick Mulvaney,
Acting Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2018-01435 Filed 1-25-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P