ABA has published a members-only staff analysis of the CFPB’s request for information regarding the small business lending market. The RFI is the CFPB’s first step in implementing section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires financial institutions to report information regarding credit applications by women-owned, minority-owned and small businesses.
The bureau is seeking information in five broad categories: the definition of a small business; the data points the bureau should require banks to report; the lenders to be encompassed by the data collection; the financial products offered to small businesses; and privacy and confidentiality concerns related to the data collection. Comments are due July 14, 2017, and ABA is forming a working group to help respond to the request.
ABA has previously called on Congress to repeal Section 1071, noting that its conflation of consumer and commercial lending is misguided. Furthermore, ABA noted in its analysis that the CFPB has no experience or institutional proficiencies to meet the requirements for gathering information on small business and understanding commercial lending. For more information or to join the working group, contact ABA’s Barry Mills.
