[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4692 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4692

   To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to provide 
  procedures for guidance issued by the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
                  Protection, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 24, 2020

Mr. Lankford (for himself, Mr. Tillis, and Mr. Scott of South Carolina) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
            Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to provide 
  procedures for guidance issued by the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
                  Protection, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Give Useful Information to Define 
Effective Compliance Act'' or the ``GUIDE Compliance Act''.

SEC. 2. PROCEDURES FOR BUREAU GUIDANCE.

    Section 1022(b) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Procedures for bureau guidance.--
                    ``(A) Definitions.--In this paragraph--
                            ``(i) the term `Bureau' means--
                                    ``(I) the Director of the Bureau;
                                    ``(II) the Deputy Director of the 
                                Bureau; and
                                    ``(III) any employee of the Bureau 
                                described in section 1013(a)(1)(B); and
                            ``(ii) the term `guidance'--
                                    ``(I) means--
                                            ``(aa) an agency statement 
                                        of general applicability and 
                                        future effect, other than a 
                                        regulatory action, that sets 
                                        forth a policy on a statutory, 
                                        regulatory, or technical issue 
                                        or an interpretation of a 
                                        statutory or regulatory issue; 
                                        and
                                            ``(bb) any written 
                                        interpretive rule, bulletin, 
                                        statement of policy, letter, 
                                        examination manual, frequently 
                                        asked question, notice, 
                                        directive, news release, blog 
                                        post, small entity compliance 
                                        guide, or other authoritative 
                                        document issued by the Bureau 
                                        regarding compliance with a 
                                        Federal consumer financial law; 
                                        and
                                    ``(II) does not include--
                                            ``(aa) a purely internal 
                                        Bureau policy;
                                            ``(bb) a law enforcement 
                                        communication such as a 
                                        complaint, consent order, 
                                        judgment, legal opinion, 
                                        warning letter, investigatory 
                                        letter, notice of hearing, 
                                        civil investigative demand, 
                                        subpoena, no-action letter, 
                                        advisory opinion, or any 
                                        request in lieu of the 
                                        foregoing;
                                            ``(cc) an individualized 
                                        supervisory communication such 
                                        as a supervisory letter, report 
                                        of examination, memorandum of 
                                        understanding, board 
                                        resolution, matter requiring 
                                        attention, or individualized 
                                        communication or agreement 
                                        pursuant to the supervisory 
                                        authority of the Bureau; or
                                            ``(dd) a decision issued 
                                        under subtitle E.
                    ``(B) Guidance requirements.--The Director shall 
                issue guidance that is necessary or appropriate to 
                enable the Bureau to carry out Federal consumer 
                financial law, including facilitating compliance with 
                such law.
                    ``(C) Rulemaking.--
                            ``(i) Proposed rule.--Not later than 18 
                        months after the date of enactment of this 
                        paragraph, the Bureau shall publish in the 
                        Federal Register and on the website of the 
                        Bureau a proposed rule defining--
                                    ``(I) each type of guidance the 
                                Bureau shall provide;
                                    ``(II) the criteria the Bureau 
                                shall use for selecting each type of 
                                guidance;
                                    ``(III) the process and timelines 
                                for requests for guidance;
                                    ``(IV) the time periods for the 
                                response of the Bureau to a request for 
                                each type of guidance; and
                                    ``(V) a process for amending or 
                                revoking guidance issued under the 
                                rule, including a process for public 
                                input on any proposal to amend or 
                                revoke guidance, unless the Bureau 
                                determines public input is not required 
                                due to public exigency.
                            ``(ii) Final rule.--Not later than 1 year 
                        after the date on which the proposed rule 
                        described in clause (i) is published, the 
                        Bureau shall publish a final rule based on the 
                        proposed rule.
                    ``(D) Reliance on bureau guidance.--No person shall 
                be held liable for any act done or omitted in good 
                faith in conformity with any applicable guidance from 
                the Bureau or any predecessor agency that was in effect 
                at the time of the act or omission, even if the 
                guidance is later revoked, amended, or rendered 
                inconsistent by guidance or action by the Bureau or a 
                determination by a court of competent jurisdiction.
                    ``(E) Development of a penalty matrix.--
                            ``(i) Proposed rule.--Not later than 18 
                        months after the date of the enactment of this 
                        subparagraph, the Bureau shall publish in the 
                        Federal Register and on the website of the 
                        Bureau a proposed rule establishing guidelines 
                        for determining the size of any civil monetary 
                        penalties issued by the Bureau based on the 
                        severity of the actionable conduct in violation 
                        of a Federal consumer financial law and the 
                        level of culpability. The regulations 
                        prescribed under this paragraph shall, to the 
                        extent possible, align with any chart, matrix, 
                        rule, or guideline published by the Office of 
                        the Comptroller of the Currency, the 
                        Corporation, or the Board of Governors.
                            ``(ii) Final rule.--Not later than 1 year 
                        after the date on which the proposed rule 
                        described in clause (i) is published, the 
                        Bureau shall publish a final rule based on the 
                        proposed rule.''.
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