News

House reviews bills calling for CPFB accountability and transparency

May 23, 2014

The accountability and transparency — or lack thereof — within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been the subject of growing concern among legislators on both sides of the aisle, not to mention businesses in every corner of the financial services industry.

Today the House Financial Services subcommittee on financial institutions and consumer credit is discussing a number of bills and other documents that aim to make the bureau answerable to Congress and the public for its policies and actions.

Bills for consideration include:

• H.R. 3389: CFPB Slush Fund Elimination Act — to repeal the Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund and to deposit existing amounts in such Fund into the Treasury, and for other purposes;
• H.R. 3770, H.R. 3770: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection-Inspector General Reform Act — to require Senate confirmation of [an] Inspector General of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and for other purposes;
• H.R. 4383, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Small Business Advisory Board Act — to amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to establish a Small Business Advisory Board, and for other purposes; and
• H.R. 4604, the CFPB Data Collection Security Act — to amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to create a consumer opt-out list for data collected by the Bureau, to put time limits on data held by the Bureau, and for other purposes.

Draft bills for discussion include:

• Bureau Arbitration Fairness Act, which would strike down the bureau's authority to prohibit, condition, or limit the use of arbitration provisions in contracts for consumer financial products or services;
• Bureau Guidance Transparency Act, which would require the CFPB to set a public notice and comment period before issuing guidelines in final form, including all background research used in preparing the guidance;
• A bill that would require CFPB to engage in formal rulemaking, including public notice and comment period, before providing guidance on “abusive” acts or practices; and
• Bureau Examination Fairness Act, which would prohibit the CFPB from including enforcement attorneys in examinations; regulate CFPB data requests; place time limitations on field work, reports and supervisory letters; and prohibit concurrent limited-scope exams at the same institution.

According to a report by CUNA, the CFPB said that starting June 18, its Consumer Advisory Board and Council meetings will become fully open to the public. A report issued last fall by Bipartisan Policy Center's Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative roundly criticized the CFPB for its practices of holding closed and invitation-only meetings.