The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday issued a proposed rule that would require non-banks — such as debt collectors — to report enforcement actions and court orders to a public registry that would be used to detect repeat offenders and give the CFPB and other enforcement agencies insights to help it “take action to stop further large-scale harm or continued illegal efforts across the country.” The repeat offender registry would be a central repository that unifies the efforts of enforcement agencies while increasing transparency, according to the CFPB.
A copy of the proposed rule, which will be open for comment for 60 days, can be accessed by clicking here.
If enacted, non-banks would have to report final agency and court orders and judgments — including consent orders and stipulated orders — brought under federal consumer financial protection laws or state laws regarding unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices. Larger non-banks would also have to identify a senior executive who would attest to the information being supplied to the registry.
The CFPB said it is also considering including publication of “certain registration information” about companies on the Bureau’s website.
While regulation of banks and credit unions is standardized, “comprehensive, readily accessible information is lacking about the identity of orders issued against non-banks subject either to the CFPB’s market monitoring authority or to its supervisory authority across the various markets for consumer financial products and services,” the CFPB noted. In the proposed rule, the CFPB noted that violations of a state UDAP or UDAAP law may prove the existence or violations or other laws within the Bureau’s jurisdiction, such as the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
“Protecting American households is a shared effort across local, state, and federal authorities,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, in a statement. “The proposed registry will help the CFPB, the law enforcement community, and the public limit the harms from repeat offenders.”
