A task force created by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to examine consumer financial law has issued a Request for Information, seeking answers to two dozen questions about how well the financial markets are functioning for consumers.
The task force was launched in January and includes five individuals:
- Todd J. Zywicki (Taskforce chair), Professor of Law at George Mason University (GMU) Antonin Scalia Law School and Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute
- William MacLeod, partner at Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP, Past Chair of the Antitrust Section of the American Bar Association, and former Bureau Director at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission
- Dr. J. Howard Beales, III
- Dr. Thomas Durkin, Senior Economist (Retired) at the Federal Reserve Board
- L. Jean Noonan, Partner at Hudson Cook
The task force reports to Kathleen Kraninger, the director of the CFPB. Among the questions it is seeking answers to in the RFI are:
- Are there gaps in consumer financial protections that should be filled by strengthening the Bureau’s regulations? What type of protections are needed (e.g., additional disclosures, substantive requirements)? How should the costs and benefits of the proposed changes be evaluated?
- Uncertainty can increase compliance costs and litigation risk without benefitting consumers. Are there areas of significant ambiguity or inconsistency in the regulations? Where would regulations benefit significantly from increased clarity or harmonization—both with respect to the Bureau’s regulations and with respect to overlap, duplication, or inconsistency with regulations issued by other Federal agencies?
- Where have regulations failed to keep up with rapid changes in consumer financial services markets? Are regulatory changes needed to address new products and services and the way consumers obtain them? Are there regulations that have outlived their usefulness? Are there new regulations that might be needed? Are there regulatory areas or specific regulations now sufficiently so overlapping as to be redundant?
- Given the jurisdictional overlap between State and Federal regulators on consumer financial markets, are there quantifiable examples of whether this overlap has led to disproportionate compliance costs for small financial institutions, such as community banks or credit unions?
- What is the optimal mix of regulation, enforcement, supervision, and consumer financial education for achieving the Bureau’s consumer protection goals?
Answers are due in two months and may be submitted in one of three ways:
- Through the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Please reference Docket No. CFPB-2020-0013.
- Via Email: 2020-RFI-Taskforce@cfpb.gov. Include Docket No. CFPB-2020-0013 in the subject line of the message.
- Hand Delivery/Courier/Mail: Comment Intake, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552. Please reference Docket No. CFPB-2020-0013.
