Bureau Advisory Opinion Act of 2016

Summary: Bureau Advisory Opinion Act of 2016  This bill amends the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to establish a procedure and promulgate rules to provide written opinions in response to inquiries concerning conformance of specific proposed or prospective conduct by a covered person with federal consumer financial law. A &quot;covered person&quot; under the Act is: (1) any person that engages in offering or providing a consumer financial product or service, and (2) any affiliate of that person if the affiliate acts as a service provider to the person. The CFPB, within 90 days of receiving such a request for an opinion, shall:   issue an opinion stating whether the described conduct would violate federal consumer financial law, deny the request, or explain why it is not feasible to issue an opinion.  The CFPB shall not issue an opinion on a general question of interpretation, a hypothetical situation, conduct of someone other than the requester, or past conduct the covered person doesn't plan to continue.  A request may be withdrawn at any time prior to the CFPB issuing a response. An issued advisory opinion may be amended or revoked at any time.  An opinion rendered pursuant to this bill shall be placed in the CFPB's public record 90 days after the requesting party has received the advice, subject to specified limitations on public disclosure.  Any person may rely on an opinion issued by the CFPB that has not been amended or withdrawn and liability shall not attach to conduct consistent with such opinion.  The CFPB shall implement a system to charge a fee for such inquiries sufficient to pay the costs of carrying out this bill.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bureau Advisory Opinion Act of 
2016''.

SEC. 2. ADVISORY OPINIONS.

    Section 1022(b) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 
(12 U.S.C. 5512(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Advisory opinions.--
                    ``(A) Establishing procedures.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Director shall 
                        establish a procedure and, as necessary, 
                        promulgate rules to provide written opinions in 
                        response to inquiries concerning the 
                        conformance of specific conduct with Federal 
                        consumer financial law. In establishing the 
                        procedure the Director shall consult with the 
                        prudential regulators and such other Federal 
                        departments and agencies as the Director 
                        determines appropriate, and obtain the views of 
                        all interested persons through a public notice 
                        and comment period.
                            ``(ii) Scope of request.--A request for an 
                        opinion under this paragraph must relate to 
                        specific proposed or prospective conduct by a 
                        covered person contemplating the proposed or 
                        prospective conduct.
                            ``(iii) Submission.--A request for an 
                        opinion under this paragraph may be submitted 
                        to the Director either by or on behalf of a 
                        covered person.
                            ``(iv) Right to withdraw inquiry.--Any 
                        inquiry under this paragraph may be withdrawn 
                        at any time prior to the Director issuing an 
                        opinion in response to such inquiry, and any 
                        opinion based on an inquiry that has been 
                        withdrawn shall have no force or effect.
                    ``(B) Issuance of opinions.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Director shall, 
                        within 90 days of receiving the request for an 
                        opinion under this paragraph, either--
                                    ``(I) issue an opinion stating 
                                whether the described conduct would 
                                violate Federal consumer financial law;
                                    ``(II) if permissible under clause 
                                (iii), deny the request; or
                                    ``(III) explain why it is not 
                                feasible to issue an opinion.
                            ``(ii) Extension.--Notwithstanding clause 
                        (i), if the Director determines that the Bureau 
                        requires additional time to issue an opinion, 
                        the Director may make a single extension of the 
                        deadline of 90 days or less.
                            ``(iii) Denial of requests.--The Director 
                        shall not issue an opinion, and shall so inform 
                        the requestor, if the request for an opinion--
                                    ``(I) asks a general question of 
                                interpretation;
                                    ``(II) asks about a hypothetical 
                                situation;
                                    ``(III) asks about the conduct of 
                                someone other than the covered person 
                                on whose behalf the request is made;
                                    ``(IV) asks about past conduct that 
                                the covered person on whose behalf the 
                                request is made does not plan to 
                                continue in the future; or
                                    ``(V) fails to provide necessary 
                                supporting information requested by the 
                                Bureau within a reasonable time 
                                established by the Bureau.
                            ``(iv) Amendment and revocation.--An 
                        advisory opinion issued under this paragraph 
                        may be amended or revoked at any time.
                            ``(v) Public disclosure.--An opinion 
                        rendered pursuant to this paragraph shall be 
                        placed in the Bureau's public record 90 days 
                        after the requesting party has received the 
                        advice, subject to any limitations on public 
                        disclosure arising from statutory restrictions, 
                        Bureau regulations, or the public interest. The 
                        Bureau shall redact any personal, confidential, 
                        or identifying information about the covered 
                        person or any other persons mentioned in the 
                        advisory opinion, unless the covered person 
                        consents to such disclosure.
                            ``(vi) Report to congress.--The Bureau 
                        shall, concurrent with the semi-annual report 
                        required under section 1016(b), submit 
                        information regarding the number of requests 
                        for an advisory opinion received, the subject 
                        of each request, the number of requests denied 
                        pursuant to clause (iii), and the time needed 
                        to respond to each request.
                    ``(C) Reliance on opinion.--Any person may rely on 
                an opinion issued by the Director pursuant to this 
                paragraph that has not been amended or withdrawn. No 
                liability under Federal consumer financial law shall 
                attach to conduct consistent with an advisory opinion 
                that had not been amended or withdrawn at the time the 
                conduct was undertaken.
                    ``(D) Confidentiality.--Any document or other 
                material that is received by the Bureau or any other 
                Federal department or agency in connection with an 
                inquiry under this paragraph shall be exempt from 
                disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States 
                Code (commonly referred to as the `Freedom of 
                Information Act') and may not, except with the consent 
                of the covered person making such inquiry, be made 
                publicly available, regardless of whether the Director 
                responds to such inquiry or the covered person 
                withdraws such inquiry before receiving an opinion.
                    ``(E) Assistance for small businesses.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Bureau shall assist, 
                        to the maximum extent practicable, small 
                        businesses in preparing inquiries under this 
                        paragraph.
                            ``(ii) Small business defined.--For 
                        purposes of this subparagraph, the term `small 
                        business' has the meaning given the term `small 
                        business concern' under section 3 of the Small 
                        Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).
                    ``(F) Inquiry fee.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Director shall 
                        develop a system to charge a fee for each 
                        inquiry made under this paragraph in an amount 
                        sufficient, in the aggregate, to pay for the 
                        cost of carrying out this paragraph.
                            ``(ii) Notice and comment.--Not later than 
                        45 days after the date of the enactment of this 
                        paragraph, the Director shall publish a 
                        description of the fee system described in 
                        clause (i) in the Federal Register and shall 
                        solicit comments from the public for a period 
                        of 60 days after publication.
                            ``(iii) Finalization.--The Director shall 
                        publish a final description of the fee system 
                        and implement such fee system not later than 30 
                        days after the end of the public comment period 
                        described in clause (ii).''.