CFPB Releases Enforceable Rules and Orders for Public Comment
Providers of consumer financial products should prepare themselves for substantial transfers of enforcement authority to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau ("CFPB" or "Bureau") when the Bureau begins its operations on July 21, 2011. Section 1063(i) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 requires that the CFPB publish a listing of the rules and orders previously enforced by other federal agencies that will be transferred to the Bureau for enforcement upon its July 21, 2011 transfer date.
Upon consultation with seven federal regulators – the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, FDIC, OCC, OTS, NCUA, FTC and HUD – the Bureau released the listing of enforceable rules and orders for public comment on May 31, 2011. The Notice for Public Comment sets forth the transfers of enforcement authority of rules and orders promulgated under key federal consumer protection statutes, which include, but are not limited to, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Truth in Lending Act.
The transfers of enforcement authority to the CFPB will not have a substantive effect on the rules or orders, but regulated entities will be subject to a new regulating authority in the Bureau whose resources, priorities and regulatory philosophy may differ from the transferor agencies previously charged with enforcement. The purpose of this advisory is to ensure that regulated entities and other interested parties are aware of the transfer in regulatory authority from other federal agencies to the Bureau, and interested parties are encouraged to submit comments to the Bureau before June 30, 2011.
A complete listing of the rules and orders transferred to the CFPB on its July 21, 2011 transfer date is provided in the Notice for Public Comment.
Troutman Sanders’ CFPB Team monitors the developments and activities associated with the CFPB on its blog and also advises clients on CFPB and Dodd-Frank issues.