[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 111 (Thursday, June 9, 2016)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 37412-37415]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-12931]



[[Page 37411]]

Vol. 81

Thursday,

No. 111

June 9, 2016

Part XXIII





Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection





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Semiannual Regulatory Agenda

  Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 111 / Thursday, June 9, 2016 / 
Unified Agenda  

[[Page 37412]]


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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

12 CFR CH. X


Semiannual Regulatory Agenda

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

ACTION: Semiannual regulatory agenda.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB or Bureau) 
is publishing this agenda as part of the Spring 2016 Unified Agenda of 
Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The CFPB reasonably 
anticipates having the regulatory matters identified below under 
consideration during the period from May 1, 2016, to April 30, 2017. 
The next agenda will be published in fall 2016 and will update this 
agenda through fall 2017. Publication of this agenda is in accordance 
with the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).

DATES: This information is current as of March 25, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 1700 G Street NW., 
Washington, DC 20552.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A staff contact is included for each 
regulatory item listed herein.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CFPB is publishing its spring 2016 
agenda as part of the Spring 2016 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory 
and Deregulatory Actions, which is coordinated by the Office of 
Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866. The CFPB's 
participation in the Unified Agenda is voluntary. The complete Unified 
Agenda is available to the public at the following Web site: http://www.reginfo.gov.
    Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 
Protection Act, Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (Dodd-Frank Act), 
the CFPB has rulemaking, supervisory, enforcement, and other 
authorities relating to consumer financial products and services. These 
authorities include the ability to issue regulations under more than a 
dozen federal consumer financial laws, which transferred to the CFPB 
from seven federal agencies on July 21, 2011. The CFPB is working on a 
wide range of initiatives to address issues in markets for consumer 
financial products and services that are not reflected in this notice 
because the Unified Agenda is limited to rulemaking activities.
    The CFPB reasonably anticipates having the regulatory matters 
identified below under consideration during the period from May 1, 
2016, to April 30, 2017.\1\ Among the Bureau's more significant 
regulatory efforts are the following.
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    \1\ The listing does not include certain routine, frequent, or 
administrative matters. Further, certain of the information fields 
for the listing are not applicable to independent regulatory 
agencies, including the CFPB, and, accordingly, the CFPB has 
indicated responses of ``no'' for such fields.
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Bureau Regulatory Efforts in Various Consumer Markets

    The Bureau is working on a number of rulemakings to address 
important consumer protection issues in a wide variety of markets for 
consumer financial products and services.
    For example, the Bureau is preparing to issue a Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking this spring concerning the use of agreements between a 
covered person and a consumer for a consumer financial product or 
service providing for arbitration of any future disputes. The 
rulemaking follows on a report that the Bureau issued to Congress in 
March 2015, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as on 
preliminary results of arbitration research that were released by the 
Bureau in December 2013. In fall 2015, the Bureau began the rulemaking 
process by releasing an outline explaining that it was considering 
whether to limit arbitration agreements from being used to compel 
arbitration of consumer class actions and whether to require the 
reporting of certain information concerning consumer arbitrations to 
the Bureau to facilitate monitoring. The Bureau convened a panel under 
the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) in 
conjunction with the Office of Management and Budget and the Small 
Business Administration's Chief Counsel for Advocacy to consult with 
small businesses that may be affected by the policy proposals under 
consideration. The Bureau has also gathered extensive feedback from 
other stakeholders in preparation for the rulemaking.
    The Bureau also expects to release later this spring a Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking to address consumer harms from practices related to 
payday loans, auto title loans, and other similar credit products, 
including failure to determine whether consumers have the ability to 
repay without default or reborrowing and certain payment collection 
practices. The Bureau convened a SBREFA panel in April 2015, along with 
the Office of Management and Budget and the Small Business 
Administration's Chief Counsel for Advocacy to meet with small lenders 
that may be affected by the rulemaking, and has gathered extensive 
feedback from other stakeholders in the last year to obtain feedback on 
the proposals. This rulemaking builds on Bureau research, including a 
white paper the Bureau published on these products in April 2013, a 
data point providing additional research in March 2014, and ongoing 
analysis.
    The Bureau also expects to issue a final rule in early summer to 
create a comprehensive set of consumer protections for prepaid 
financial products, such as general purpose reloadable cards and other 
similar products, which are increasingly being used by consumers in 
place of traditional checking accounts or credit cards. The Bureau 
issued a proposed rule in November 2014, to bring prepaid products 
expressly within the ambit of Regulation E (which implements the 
Electronic Fund Transfer Act) as prepaid accounts and create new 
provisions specific to such accounts. The Bureau also proposed to amend 
Regulation E and Regulation Z (which implements the Truth in Lending 
Act) to regulate prepaid accounts with overdraft services or credit 
features.
    The Bureau also expects to issue a proposal to amend Regulation P, 
which implements the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA). Congress recently 
amended the GLBA to provide an exception to the requirement for 
financial institutions to deliver annual privacy notices when certain 
conditions are met. The Bureau plans to make conforming amendments to 
Regulation P for consistency with the statutory amendment.
    Building on Bureau research and other sources, the Bureau is also 
engaged in policy analysis and further research initiatives in 
preparation for a rulemaking on overdraft programs on checking 
accounts. The CFPB issued a white paper in June 2013, and a report in 
July 2014, based on supervisory data from several large banks that 
highlighted a number of possible consumer protection concerns, 
including how consumers opt in to overdraft coverage for ATM and one-
time debit card transactions, overdraft coverage limits, transaction 
posting order practices, overdraft and insufficient funds fee 
structure, and involuntary account closures. The CFPB is continuing to 
engage in additional research and has begun consumer testing 
initiatives relating to the opt-in process.
    The Bureau is also engaged in policy analysis and research 
initiatives in preparation for a rulemaking on debt collection 
activities, which are the single largest source of complaints to the 
Federal Government of any industry. Building on the Bureau's November

[[Page 37413]]

2013, Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the CFPB is in the process 
of analyzing the results of a survey to obtain information from 
consumers about their experiences with debt collection. The Bureau is 
also undertaking consumer testing initiatives to determine what 
information would be useful for consumers to have about debt collection 
and their debts and how that information should be provided to them.
    The Bureau is also continuing rulemaking activities that will 
further establish the Bureau's nonbank supervisory authority by 
defining larger participants of certain markets for consumer financial 
products and services. Larger participants of such markets, as the 
Bureau defines by rule, are subject to the Bureau's supervisory 
authority. The Bureau expects that its next larger participant 
rulemaking will focus on the markets for consumer installment loans and 
vehicle title loans for purposes of supervision. The Bureau is also 
considering whether rules to require registration of these or other 
non-depository lenders would facilitate supervision, as has been 
suggested to the Bureau by both consumer advocates and industry groups.
    The Bureau is also continuing to develop research on other critical 
markets to help implement statutory directives and to assess whether 
regulation of other consumer financial products and services may be 
warranted. For example, the Bureau is starting its work to implement 
section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which amends the Equal Credit 
Opportunity Act to require financial institutions to report information 
concerning credit applications made by women-owned, minority-owned, and 
small businesses. The Bureau will focus on outreach and research to 
develop its understanding of the players, products, and practices in 
the small business lending market and of the potential ways to 
implement section 1071. The CFPB then expects to begin developing 
proposed regulations concerning the data to be collected and 
determining the appropriate procedures and privacy protections needed 
for information-gathering and public disclosure

Implementing Dodd-Frank Act Mortgage Protections

    The Bureau is also continuing efforts to implement critical 
consumer protections under the Dodd-Frank Act to guard against mortgage 
market practices that contributed to the nation's most significant 
financial crisis in several decades. Since 2013, the Bureau has issued 
regulations as directed by the Dodd-Frank Act to implement certain 
protections for mortgage originations and servicing, integrate various 
federal mortgage disclosures, and amend mortgage reporting requirements 
under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The Bureau is continuing 
intensive work to facilitate implementation of the new requirements, 
including follow-up rulemaking where warranted.
    For example, the Bureau expects this summer to release a Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking to make small clarifications and provide further 
regulatory guidance concerning its rule combining several federal 
mortgage disclosures that consumers receive in connection with applying 
for and closing on a mortgage loan under the Truth in Lending Act 
(TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The 
project to integrate and streamline the disclosures was mandated under 
the Dodd-Frank Act and took effect in October 2015. The rule is the 
cornerstone of the Bureau's broader ``Know Before You Owe'' mortgage 
initiative.
    The Bureau also expects to issue a final rule in the summer to 
amend various provisions of its January 2013, mortgage servicing rules 
in Regulation X (which implements RESPA) and Regulation Z. The Bureau 
has proposed clarifications of the applicability of certain provisions 
when the borrower is in bankruptcy, additional enhancements to loss 
mitigation requirements, provisions to address the applicability of 
certain rules to successors in interest, and other amendments. The 
Bureau has been conducting consumer testing of certain disclosures as 
it prepares the final rule.
    The Bureau is also working intensely to conduct outreach with 
industry and coordinate with other agencies to monitor and facilitate 
implementation of its rule to implement Dodd-Frank amendments to HMDA. 
The Bureau has already released a small entity compliance guide in 
connection with the rule, which was finalized in October 2015. Certain 
elements of the rule take effect in January 2017, and most new data 
collection requirements begin in January 2018. The Bureau is working to 
streamline and modernize HMDA data collection and reporting processes 
in conjunction with implementation.
    The Bureau is also continuing to facilitate the full implementation 
of and compliance with other rules that it issued in January 2013, to 
implement Dodd-Frank Act requirements concerning mortgage originations. 
Most recently, the Bureau has adjusted the thresholds defining small 
creditors and small creditors operating in rural and underserved areas 
for purposes of certain special rules concerning balloon loans, 
escrows, and other topics. The Bureau issued a final rule adjusting the 
thresholds for small creditors in October 2015. The Bureau then issued 
two rules to implement the Helping Expand Lending Practices in Rural 
Communities Act. The first rule, which the Bureau issued on March 2, 
2016, established a process for creditors to apply to the Bureau for an 
area to be designated as rural. The second rule, which the Bureau 
issued on March 22, 2016, was an interim final rule that revised the 
test to determine which small creditors operate in rural areas in light 
of the Congressional amendments to the underlying statutory language.

Further Planning

    Finally, the Bureau is continuing to conduct outreach and research 
to assess issues in various other markets for consumer financial 
products and services. As this work continues, the Bureau will evaluate 
possible policy responses, including possible rulemaking actions, 
taking into account the critical need for and effectiveness of various 
policy tools. The Bureau will update its regulatory agenda in fall 
2016, to reflect the results of this further prioritization and 
planning.

    Dated: March 25, 2016.
Kelly Thompson Cochran,
Assistant Director for Regulations, Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection.

           Consumer Financial Protection Bureau--Prerule Stage
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                                                           Regulation
       Sequence No.                    Title             Identifier No.
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291.......................  Business Lending Data              3170-AA09
                             (Regulation B).
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        Consumer Financial Protection Bureau--Proposed Rule Stage
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                                                           Regulation
       Sequence No.                    Title             Identifier No.
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292.......................  Payday Loans and Deposit           3170-AA40
                             Advance Products.
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         Consumer Financial Protection Bureau--Final Rule Stage
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                                                           Regulation
       Sequence No.                    Title             Identifier No.
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293.......................  The Expedited Funds                3170-AA31
                             Availability Act
                             (Regulation CC).
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CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU (CFPB)

Prerule Stage

291. Business Lending Data (Regulation B)

    Legal Authority:15 U.S.C. 1691c-2
    Abstract: Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 
Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amends the Equal Credit 
Opportunity Act (ECOA) to require financial institutions to report 
information concerning credit applications made by women-owned, 
minority-owned, and small businesses. The amendments to ECOA made by 
the Dodd-Frank Act require that certain data be collected and 
maintained, including the number of the application and date the 
application was received; the type and purpose of loan or credit 
applied for; the amount of credit applied for and approved; the type of 
action taken with regard to each application and the date of such 
action; the census tract of the principal place of business; the gross 
annual revenue of the business; and the race, sex, and ethnicity of the 
principal owners of the business. The Dodd-Frank Act also provides 
authority for the CFPB to require any additional data that the CFPB 
determines would aid in fulfilling the purposes of this section. The 
Bureau will focus on outreach and research to develop its understanding 
of the players, products, and practices in the small business lending 
market and of the potential ways to implement section 1071. The CFPB 
then expects to begin developing proposed regulations concerning the 
data to be collected and appropriate procedures, information 
safeguards, and privacy protections for information-gathering under 
this section.
    Timetable:

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               Action                    Date            FR Cite
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Prerule Activities..................   12/00/16  .......................
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    Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes.
    Agency Contact: Elena Grigera Babinecz, Office of Regulations, 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Phone: 202 435-7700.
    RIN: 3170-AA09

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU (CFPB)

Proposed Rule Stage

292. Payday Loans and Deposit Advance Products

    Legal Authority: Not Yet Determined
    Abstract: The Bureau is conducting a rulemaking to address consumer 
harms from practices related to payday loans and other similar credit 
products, including failure to determine whether consumers have the 
ability to repay without default or reborrowing and certain payment 
collection practices. Under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement 
Fairness Act (SBREFA), the Bureau released in March 2015 an outline of 
proposals under consideration for the rulemaking. As part of the SBREFA 
process, in April 2015, the Bureau along with the Office of Management 
and Budget and the Small Business Administration's Chief Counsel for 
Advocacy, met with small lenders that may be affected by the rulemaking 
to obtain feedback on the proposals. This rulemaking builds on Bureau 
research, including a white paper the Bureau published on these 
products in April 2013, a data point providing additional research in 
March 2014, and ongoing analysis.
    Timetable:

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               Action                    Date            FR Cite
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NPRM................................   06/00/16  .......................
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    Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes.
    Agency Contact: Mark Morelli, Office of Regulations, Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau, Phone: 202 435-7700.
    RIN: 3170-AA40

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU (CFPB)

Final Rule Stage

293. The Expedited Funds Availability Act (Regulation CC)

    Legal Authority: 12 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.
    Abstract: The Expedited Funds Availability Act (EFA Act), 
implemented by Regulation CC, governs availability of funds after a 
check deposit and check collection and return processes. Section 1086 
of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act 
amended the EFA Act to provide the CFPB with joint rulemaking authority 
with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) over 
certain consumer-related EFA Act provisions. The Board proposed 
amendments to Regulation CC in March 2011, to facilitate the banking 
industry's ongoing transition to fully-electronic interbank check 
collection and return. The Board's proposal includes some provisions 
that are subject to the CFPB's joint rulemaking authority, including 
the period for funds availability and revising model form disclosures. 
In addition, in December 2013, the Board proposed revised amendments to 
certain Regulation CC provisions that are not subject to the CFPB's 
authority and extended the comment period to May 2014. The CFPB will 
work with the Board to issue jointly a final rule that includes 
provisions within the CFPB's authority.
    Timetable:

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               Action                    Date            FR Cite
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NPRM................................   03/25/11  76 FR 16862
NPRM Comment Period End.............   06/03/11  .......................
Final Rule..........................   12/00/16  .......................
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    Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Yes.
    Agency Contact: Joseph Baressi, Office of Regulations, Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau, Phone: 202 435-7700.

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    RIN: 3170-AA31

[FR Doc. 2016-12931 Filed 6-8-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P