Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) – Page 22

Risky Business: CFPB’s New Consumer Risk Assessment Process

Nov 16 2011

By: David L. Beam, Rebecca Lobenherz, Stephanie C. Robinson

Those who have been concerned about the expansive powers of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) should ready themselves for the risk assessment reviews that the Bureau is about to initiate. The CFPB recently released the first edition of its Supervision and Examination Manual (“Examination Manual”), which provides an overview of the Bureau’s supervision planning process and details the Bureau’s examination procedures. A key component of the Examination Manual is the CFPB’s Consumer Risk Assessment process, which evaluates supervised entities based on the amount of risk their activities pose to consumers, identifies sources of risk, and assesses the quality of risk controls put in place by the supervised entities.

To view the complete alert online, click here.

CFPB Announces “Know Before You Owe” for Student Loans

Nov 07 2011

By: Kathryn Baugher

The CFPB is expanding its “Know Before You Owe” initiative to cover student loans. Since “Know Before You Owe” began last May, the CFPB has asked the public for input on a variety of draft mortgage disclosure forms. Now the CFPB is working with the Department of Education to gather feedback on a sample financial aid offer form. The Department of Education, as required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act, plans to publish a model form that schools can use to communicate financial aid offers to students. Read More

CFPB to Host Town Hall in Minneapolis on October 26

Oct 24 2011

By: Rebecca Lobenherz

The CFPB, which has regularly reached out to consumers online through its blog posts and its consumer complaint portal, is also seeking consumer input the old-fashioned way – in person. On October 26, Raj Date, Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the CFPB, who previously spoke with consumers in Philadelphia, will be headed to Minneapolis, Minnesota to discuss the Bureau’s upcoming initiatives directly with consumers. The Bureau has plans on holding more events aimed at consumers throughout the country in the upcoming months.

CFPB Shares Company Portal Manual with Industry

Oct 12 2011

By: Kathryn M. Baugher

In the months ahead, the CFPB will be expanding the coverage of its consumer complaint portal to include products such as mortgages and student loans. Consumers have been able to submit credit card complaints through a portal on the CFPB web site since July 21st. In addition to providing a consumer portal through which consumers can submit and check on the status of their complaints, the CFPB now provides a company portal through which companies can view and respond to consumer complaints. The CFPB recently met with industry representatives to show them how the new system works. Read More

CFPB Official Hints at Disclosure Requirements for Checking Accounts

Oct 10 2011

By: David L. Beam

Raj Date recently issued a statement on the CFPB’s web site which suggests that the Bureau is considering a standardized disclosure form for checking account fees. The “problem,” Mr. Date said, “is that checking accounts often come with a wide variety of unexpected costs that can quickly add up for consumers.” One bank might call the fee one thing, while another bank calls it something else. And the circumstances under which banks charge the same fee might be different. Read More

Is the CFPB a Step Closer to Having a Leader?

Oct 07 2011

By: Stephanie C. Robinson

Richard Cordray’s nomination to become the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be in the hands of the full Senate now that the Senate Banking Committee has approved his nomination along a 12-10 party-line vote. But will the CFPB ever have an official leader in place? Not at this rate.

It has been fourteen months since Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Act, and the new government agency still has no formal leader. Read More

And the Plot Thickens: the CFPB Issues a Quartet of Interim Final Rules Laying Out Its Investigatory and Enforcement Procedures

Aug 16 2011

By: Melanie Hibbs Brody, Paul F. Hancock, David G. McDonough, Jr., Stephanie C. Robinson

The powerful new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “Bureau” or “CFPB”) is up and running, and is expected to soon begin investigating and prosecuting claims against covered persons under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (the “CFPA” or “Act”).

To this end, on July 28, 2011, the Bureau issued four interim final rules setting out procedures governing: (i) Bureau investigations of possible violations of federal consumer financial law; (ii) the Bureau’s use of administrative adjudications to enforce compliance with the Act, rules issued under the Act, and any other federal law or regulation the Bureau is authorized to enforce; (iii) how the Bureau will handle confidential information obtained from persons over which it exercises its authority; and (iv) the process by which state officials must notify the CFPB of actions or proceedings they take under the Act.

To read the complete alert online, click here.

Bureau Asks for Help Deciding Whom to Supervise

Jul 06 2011

By: David L. Beam, Stephanie C. Robinson

Debt collectors, consumer lenders, money transmitters, and prepaid card issuers, be forewarned: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “Bureau”) thinks it might need to send some examiners to your offices to see if you are complying with consumer protection laws.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires the Bureau to examine large banks, thrifts, credit unions, and their affiliates. The Act also allows the Bureau to conduct routine examinations of nonbank covered personsin the residential mortgage lending, private education lending, and payday lending markets, among others. Nondepository covered persons such as these will be subject to a risk-based supervision program that is designed to assess the covered person for compliance with Federal consumer financial law, obtain information about its activities, and assess risks to consumers and to the consumer financial markets. They may also have to register with the Bureau to help support the implementation of its supervision program.

To read the complete alert online, click here.

Consumer Financial Services Industry, Meet Your New Regulator

Jul 07 2010

By: Melanie H. Brody, Stephanie C. Robinson

The centerpiece of the Dodd-Frank Act from a consumer protection standpoint is Title X, the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010. The Act will create a powerful consumer financial protection watchdog, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. The majority of existing federal consumer financial protection laws will come under the Bureau’s purview, and the Bureau will have broad authority to enforce those laws and to issue its own rules under the Act. This alert describes the Bureau, including its structure, objectives, functions, jurisdiction, rulemaking authority and enforcement powers.

To view the complete alert online, click here.

This client alert is part of a series of alerts focused on monitoring financial regulatory reform. Below is a list of other alerts in the series:

New Executive Compensation and Governance Requirements in Financial Reform Legislation – July 7, 2010

Financial Regulatory Reform – The Next Chapter: Unprecedented Rulemaking and Congressional Activity – July 7, 2010

Investor Protection Provisions of Dodd-Frank – July 1, 2010

Senate Financial Reform Bill Would Dramatically Step Up Regulation of U.S. and Non-U.S. Private Fund Advisers – June 8, 2010

Approaching the Home Stretch: Senate Passes “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010” – June 8, 2010

Analysis of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Legislation: Top Ten Issues

Oct 26 2009

By: Stephanie C. Robinson

The Obama Administration’s Financial Regulatory Reform plan is progressing through Congress. Last week, the House Financial Services Committee voted to approve H.R. 3126, the bill that would create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. As we reported in a prior publication, the agency would have extremely broad regulatory and enforcement authority over providers of consumer financial products and services, with the power to impose high penalties. See our Mortgage Banking & Consumer Financial Products alert, Million Dollar Baby: The Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009, for a complete discussion of the bill as introduced.

The committee spent the past couple of days considering and voting on dozens of proposed amendments to Chairman Barney Frank’s (D-MA) original version of the bill. This alert highlights some of the issues we are being asked about most and what has changed since the bill’s July 8, 2009 introduction.

To view the complete alert online, click here.

Catagory:Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB)