In a joint letter with five financial trade associations today, ABA raised concerns about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed changes to the confidential treatment of information and the procedures used by the public to obtain information under the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act of 1974 and in legal proceedings. Among other things, the proposed changes would allow the CFPB to disclose confidential supervisory information to any agency it deems “relevant to the exercise of the Agency’s statutory or regulatory authority,” including foreign regulators and state bar associations.
The associations said that the proposed language contradicts the Dodd-Frank statute which requires the agency have “jurisdiction” over a supervised entity. The proposed amendments would expand the bureau’s authority to share confidential information far beyond its statutory authority, and may raise significant safety and soundness, litigation and reputational concerns for banks under CFPB supervision, the groups added. For more information, contact ABA’s Anjali Phillips.
