Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection December 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is proposing to amend subpart B of Regulation E, which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the official interpretation to the regulation. The proposal would refine a final rule issued by the Bureau earlier in 2012 that implements section 1073 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act regarding remittance transfers. The proposal addresses three narrow issues. First, the proposal would provide additional flexibility regarding the disclosure of foreign taxes, as well as fees imposed by a designated recipient's institution for receiving a remittance transfer in an account. Second, the proposal would limit a remittance transfer provider's obligation to disclose foreign taxes to those imposed by a country's central government. Third, the proposal would revise the error resolution provisions that apply when a remittance transfer is not delivered to a designated recipient because the sender provided incorrect or insufficient information, and, in particular, when a sender provides an incorrect account number and that incorrect account number results in the funds being deposited in the wrong account. The Bureau is also proposing to temporarily delay and extend the effective date of the rule.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on a proposed information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The Bureau is soliciting comments concerning its proposed information collection titled, ``Clearance for Consumer Attitudes, Understanding, and Behaviors with Respect to Financial Services and Products.'' The proposed collection has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. A copy of the submission, including copies of the proposed collection and supporting documentation, may be obtained by contacting the agency contact listed below.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) announces that the ceiling on allowable charges under Section 612(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) will remain unchanged at $11.50 for 2013. The Bureau is required to increase the $8.00 amount referred to in Section 612(f)(1)(A)(i) of the FCRA on January 1 of each year, based proportionally on changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), with fractional changes rounded to the nearest fifty cents. The CPI-U increased 42.74 percent between September 1997, the date the FCRA amendments took effect, and September 2012. This increase in the CPI-U, and the requirement that any increase be rounded to the nearest fifty cents, results in no change in the maximum allowable charge of $11.50.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection published in the Federal Register of October 31, 2012 a final rule amending the regulation defining larger participants of certain consumer financial product and service markets by adding a new section to define larger participants of a market for consumer debt collection. The final rule contained four typographical errors, which this document corrects.