The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Task Force on Federal Consumer Financial law today issued an extensive, two-volume report providing an overview of existing consumer financial protection laws, analyzing costs and benefits of financial products and services and identifying redundancies or gaps in current regulations. The task force—which was established last year—made more than 100 recommendations to the CFPB, Congress and state and federal regulators.
Volume one of the report—which totals nearly 800 pages—provides a historical and economic overview of consumer finance, a look at the framework of consumer financial protection, including consumer protection, competition, innovation and inclusion and explores opportunities for modernization of the current regulatory framework and expanding consumer empowerment. Building on these insights, volume two includes the task force’s recommendations.
Among other things, the report called for greater coordination of regulatory policy initiatives by the CFPB and prudential regulators, particularly with regard to examinations; an increase in dialogue between state and federal regulators to streamline regulation; and the establishment of an independent review for the CFPB’s regulatory cost-benefit analyses.
The report also offered 102 recommendations related to the use of alternative data, the internal structure of the bureau, competition in the consumer financial marketplace, consumer credit reporting, consumer empowerment, deposit accounts, disclosures, e-signature and documentation requirements, emergency authority, enforcement, equal access to credit, financial inclusion, fintech regulation, privacy, small dollar credit and supervision. ABA staff are in the process of reviewing the full task force report.
