Twice a year, federal agencies must update and release their regulatory agendas for the current year. The agendas track agency actions through the phases of federal rulemaking, which often takes months (if not years), and provide insight into an agency's plans. On May 18, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its Spring 2016 rulemaking agenda.
The CFPB's agenda includes the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued by the Bureau on May 5, related to arbitration agreements in certain consumer financial products. A detailed analysis of this proposed rulemaking is available here.
Another Notice of Proposed Rulemaking should be announced in the coming weeks to address payday loans and auto title loans – what the CFPB collectively refers to as deposit advance products.
In addition to these proposed new rules, the agenda shows that the CFPB plans to issue several final rules this year, including amended parts of the CFPB's rules on mortgage servicing and finalized rules on prepaid accounts. The CFPB first published its proposed rules for prepaid accounts in November 2014. These rules bring prepaid accounts within the scope of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and its accompanying regulations, as well as add regulations for prepaid accounts that include credit services.
Finally, the CFPB's agenda lists four items in the pre-rule stage. These are areas where the CFPB is stating an express interest in potential regulation. These items include overdraft services for checking accounts and debt collection practices – areas in which the CFPB previously has expressed interest. For both items the CFPB says that it is conducting research and studying responses from consumers in considering how to regulate these fields.
The Troutman Sanders' Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor blog offers timely updates regarding the financial services industry to inform you of recent changes in the law, upcoming regulatory deadlines and significant judicial opinions that may impact your business. To view the blog, click here
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