[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 4091-4093]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1550
    FDIA AMENDMENTS REGARDING DISCLOSURES TO THE BUREAU OF CONSUMER 
                          FINANCIAL PROTECTION

  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4014) to amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act with 
respect to information provided to the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4014

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

     SECTION 1. FDIA AMENDMENTS REGARDING DISCLOSURES TO THE 
                   BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION.

       The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 et seq.) 
     is amended--
       (1) in section 11(t)(2)(A) (12 U.S.C. 1821(t)(2)(A)), by 
     inserting after clause (v) the following:
       ``(vi) The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.''; and
       (2) in section 18(x) (12 U.S.C. 1828(x))--
       (A) by inserting ``the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
     Protection,'' before ``any Federal banking agency'' each 
     place such term appears; and
       (B) by striking ``such agency'' each place such term 
     appears and inserting ``such Bureau, agency''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Al Green) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Illinois.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and to add extraneous material on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Illinois?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, at this time, I would like to yield such 
time as he may consume to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), 
the sponsor of this bill.
  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, the Consumer Financial 
Protection Bureau, a massive new branch

[[Page 4092]]

of government created under the Dodd-Frank Act, fails to safeguard 
proprietary information given to the Bureau by regulated entities. I 
rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 4014, which will create more 
peace of mind for financial institutions while offering more oversight 
and consumer protections to hardworking taxpayers.
  If you remember one thing, remember this: we all agree on stringent 
consumer protections. This bill is a commonsense measure that adds 
necessary oversight to the Bureau. Specifically, H.R. 4014 would 
immediately close a loophole in the law that was created during the 
creation of the CFPB. Currently, information collected by the CFPB from 
financial institutions is not protected by the same confidentiality 
provisions that other financial regulators are required to provide. 
Additionally, we must ensure parity between State bank supervisors and 
other State regulatory agencies that oversee nonbanks at the State 
level and make sure they are afforded the same protections. We need a 
real solution to ensure that privileged information will not be 
intentionally disclosed to any third party. H.R. 4014 would protect 
that data that depository and non-depository institutions provide 
during an oversight exam, therefore, enhancing the Bureau's supervision 
process and giving financial institutions the much-needed certainty 
that the information will be kept private.
  Unlike current statutes regarding other Federal agencies assessing 
relevant information, the Dodd-Frank Act failed to provide such 
protections despite the CFPB's claim that they won't or wouldn't share 
such information. The simple truth is that if we don't pass H.R. 4014, 
the CFPB could legally share privileged information with third parties. 
Absent this specific congressional legislation, the courts have 
permitted this practice of sharing in the cases of other Federal 
agencies. Although the Bureau has said that they are prepared to take 
all reasonable and appropriate steps to protect proprietary 
information, we cannot be sure. Therefore, we must pass this bill to 
restrict them from doing so.
  Even President Barack Obama's appointed director of the CFPB, Richard 
Cordray, recently testified that this was an ``oversight'' and that he 
would be ``supportive'' of a legislative solution to ensure privileged 
information is not leaked to third parties through the CFPB. My bill is 
that real legislative solution. This is a commonsense fix that will put 
an end to the needless uncertainty and legal costs to both the CFPB and 
to financial institutions.
  Mr. Speaker, while I believe this issue must and will eventually be 
addressed in the Dodd-Frank Act, this is a very important step. I urge 
the swift adoption of this important legislation to restore genuine 
accountability to the CFPB and to deliver a more efficient and 
effective government for America's hardworking taxpayers.
  I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to see that this 
omission in the Dodd-Frank Act is quickly rectified and sent to the 
President for his signature.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  H.R. 4014 is a good piece of legislation, and it is designed to 
protect proprietary information, which is exceedingly important in the 
business world. This bill ensures that when an institution submits 
confidential information to the CFPB, the information will remain 
confidential. This bill is in line with existing law for other 
financial regulators.
  We have confirmed that the CFPB believes this fix to be acceptable. 
The bill is identical to legislation introduced by Senate Banking 
Committee Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member Shelby. This legislation 
will give financial institutions legal certainty when turning over data 
to the CFPB.
  Mr. Speaker, current law states that a bank does not waive 
confidentiality and, thereby, should not have to risk its disclosure of 
information to other parties. These parties are sometimes engaged in 
litigation against each other. This piece of legislation will assure a 
party that its information given to the CFPB will not end up in the 
hands of another party that may be engaged in litigation. This is but 
one example. This bill is designed to protect proprietary information.
  I want to thank my colleague for the outstanding job that he has done 
in presenting this piece of legislation. I thank Mrs. Biggert for, 
again, showing the bipartisanship that has helped us to bring this 
legislation to the floor.
  At this time, I will reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in support of H.R. 4014, a bill to ensure that confidential, 
private information collected by the Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau, or CFPB, remains confidential.
  Introduced by my colleague from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), this 
legislation addresses a crucial oversight within the Dodd-Frank Act. 
Under current law, many supervised institutions have expressed concern 
that supplying privileged information to the CFPB at the government's 
request could void attorney-client and work product privileges against 
third parties. Even the new CFPB director, Richard Cordray, as was 
talked about, has acknowledged constitutional concerns and indicated 
that he would be supportive of a legislative solution. H.R. 4014 is 
that solution.
  Mr. Huizenga's bill makes it explicitly clear that providing 
privileged material to the CFPB does not waive attorney-client or work 
product privileges with respect to third parties. It also guarantees 
that any privileged matter that the CFPB shares with other Federal 
agencies will remain privileged.
  This bill has earned nearly universal support from Republicans, 
Democrats, regulated institutions, the regulator, Senators, and Members 
of the House. On February 16, our House Financial Services Committee 
passed this bill by voice vote.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill should be on the President's desk in a matter 
of weeks and not months. Chairman Johnson and Ranking Member Shelby of 
the Senate Banking Committee have introduced an identical measure, S. 
2099, which also awaits consideration. Passing this legislation today 
marks an important milestone. It is the first time that both House and 
Senate Members on both sides of the aisle are acknowledging and 
correcting a serious flaw in the Dodd-Frank Act.
  With that, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4014, and I commend 
Mr. Huizenga for his hard work on this issue. I have no further 
requests for time, if the gentleman would like to close.
  Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for 
time, and I will simply encourage my colleagues to support the 
legislation.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. BIGGERT. Mr. Speaker, with that, I would, again, commend the 
sponsor of this bill, Mr. Huizenga. And I thank Mr. Green for managing 
this bill.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4014 to clarify 
that privileged information that the Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau receives remains privileged throughout the supervision process.
  I would like to commend my colleague from Michigan, Mr. Huizenga for 
bringing this bill forward. This issue has come up now in several 
congressional hearings, in the Oversight Committee, in the Senate 
Banking Committee and also in the Financial Institutions Subcommittee 
on which I sit.
  Many institutions have expressed concern that there is no statutory 
protection of the attorney-client privilege for sensitive material that 
they turn over to the CFPB during the supervision process.
  Director Cordray has testified that he would support a statutory 
extension of the attorney-client privilege to documents that the CFPB 
receives. This is standard for all of the banking regulators and it 
should be true for the CFPB as well.
  It is critical that the process be an open exchange between the 
bureau and the entities it regulates. And that can only happen if the 
entities can trust that they aren't inadvertently waiving the privilege 
simply by turning documents over.
  I would note that the CFPB office of the General Counsel has 
indicated in a recent

[[Page 4093]]

memo that it would ensure that the privilege was not waived, but I know 
that the entities involved in the CFPB's regulator process would prefer 
that to be codified, and I would agree.
  As it is currently drafted, the bill is identical to a bill 
introduced on a bipartisan basis in the other body. Both bills ensure 
that privilege is not waived when the CFPB receives sensitive 
information and when it shares that information with other agencies.
  I support this bill and urge my colleagues to support it as well.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4014.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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