CFPB Releases First Edition of Supervision and Examination Manual
On October 13, 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released the first edition of its Supervision and Examination Manual that details how the CFPB intends to supervise and examine consumer financial service providers under its jurisdiction for compliance with federal consumer protection laws. This advisory explains what is included in the new manual and where to get a copy.
Notably, the manual includes compliance guidance for consumer financial service providers with respect to the unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices. Questions surrounding the CFPB’s exercise of its authority over these practices have been a major concern for consumer financial service providers, and the manual provides long-awaited compliance guidance for firms that will be subject to CFPB supervision and examination.
The manual is divided into three sections: a general overview of the CFPB’s supervision and examination process, examination procedures and compliance guidance under 11 federal consumer protection statutes and their implementing regulations, and the CFPB’s templates for documenting and reporting examination findings and recommendations.
The first edition incorporates familiar examination procedures developed under existing federal consumer protection law from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC). The FFIEC’s Uniform Consumer Compliance Rating System will be used to score supervised entity compliance with federal consumer protection laws and should be familiar to some supervised entities.
Mortgage servicers and depository institutions with more than $10 billion in assets are already subject to CFPB examination and supervision authority and are strongly encouraged to review the manual and submit comments to CFPB_Supervision@cfpb.gov to improve the supervision and examination process. Nonbank consumer financial service providers – e.g., credit reporting agencies, debt collectors, payday lenders, private education lenders – will be subject to the supervision and examination procedures set forth in the manual once the Senate confirms a CFPB Director.
A copy of CFPB’s October 13, 2011 press release unveiling the Supervision and Examination Manual is available here, and the supervision and examination manual can be downloaded here.