II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4692 

To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to provide procedures for guidance issued by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 

Mr. LANKFORD (for himself, Mr. TILLIS, and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 

to provide procedures for guidance issued by the Bureau 

of Consumer Financial Protection, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Give Useful Informa5 tion to Define Effective Compliance Act’’ or the ‘‘GUIDE 

6 Compliance Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROCEDURES FOR BUREAU GUIDANCE. 

2 Section 1022(b) of the Consumer Financial Protec3 tion Act of 2010 is amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(5) PROCEDURES FOR BUREAU GUIDANCE.— 

6 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph— 

7 ‘‘(i) the term ‘Bureau’ means— 

8 ‘‘(I) the Director of the Bureau; 

9 ‘‘(II) the Deputy Director of the 

10 Bureau; and 

11 ‘‘(III) any employee of the Bu12 reau described in section 

13 1013(a)(1)(B); and 

14 ‘‘(ii) the term ‘guidance’— 

15 ‘‘(I) means— 

16 ‘‘(aa) an agency statement 

17 of general applicability and fu18 ture effect, other than a regu19 latory action, that sets forth a 

20 policy on a statutory, regulatory, 

21 or technical issue or an interpre22 tation of a statutory or regu23 latory issue; and 

24 ‘‘(bb) any written interpre25 tive rule, bulletin, statement of 

26 policy, letter, examination manVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4692.IS S4692

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1 ual, frequently asked question, 

2 notice, directive, news release, 

3 blog post, small entity compliance 

4 guide, or other authoritative doc5 ument issued by the Bureau re6 garding compliance with a Fed7 eral consumer financial law; and 

8 ‘‘(II) does not include— 

9 ‘‘(aa) a purely internal Bu10 reau policy; 

11 ‘‘(bb) a law enforcement 

12 communication such as a com13 plaint, consent order, judgment, 

14 legal opinion, warning letter, in15 vestigatory letter, notice of hear16 ing, civil investigative demand, 

17 subpoena, no-action letter, advi18 sory opinion, or any request in 

19 lieu of the foregoing; 

20 ‘‘(cc) an individualized su21 pervisory communication such as 

22 a supervisory letter, report of ex23 amination, memorandum of un24 derstanding, board resolution, 

25 matter requiring attention, or inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4692.IS S4692

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1 dividualized communication or 

2 agreement pursuant to the super3 visory authority of the Bureau; 

4 or 

5 ‘‘(dd) a decision issued 

6 under subtitle E. 

7 ‘‘(B) GUIDANCE REQUIREMENTS.—The Di8 rector shall issue guidance that is necessary or 

9 appropriate to enable the Bureau to carry out 

10 Federal consumer financial law, including facili11 tating compliance with such law. 

12 ‘‘(C) RULEMAKING.— 

13 ‘‘(i) PROPOSED RULE.—Not later 

14 than 18 months after the date of enact15 ment of this paragraph, the Bureau shall 

16 publish in the Federal Register and on the 

17 website of the Bureau a proposed rule de18 fining— 

19 ‘‘(I) each type of guidance the 

20 Bureau shall provide; 

21 ‘‘(II) the criteria the Bureau 

22 shall use for selecting each type of 

23 guidance; 

24 ‘‘(III) the process and timelines 

25 for requests for guidance; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) the time periods for the re2 sponse of the Bureau to a request for 

3 each type of guidance; and 

4 ‘‘(V) a process for amending or 

5 revoking guidance issued under the 

6 rule, including a process for public 

7 input on any proposal to amend or re8 voke guidance, unless the Bureau de9 termines public input is not required 

10 due to public exigency. 

11 ‘‘(ii) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 1 

12 year after the date on which the proposed 

13 rule described in clause (i) is published, 

14 the Bureau shall publish a final rule based 

15 on the proposed rule. 

16 ‘‘(D) RELIANCE ON BUREAU GUIDANCE.— 

17 No person shall be held liable for any act done 

18 or omitted in good faith in conformity with any 

19 applicable guidance from the Bureau or any 

20 predecessor agency that was in effect at the 

21 time of the act or omission, even if the guidance 

22 is later revoked, amended, or rendered incon23 sistent by guidance or action by the Bureau or 

24 a determination by a court of competent juris25 diction. 


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1 ‘‘(E) DEVELOPMENT OF A PENALTY MA2 TRIX.— 

3 ‘‘(i) PROPOSED RULE.—Not later 

4 than 18 months after the date of the en5 actment of this subparagraph, the Bureau 

6 shall publish in the Federal Register and 

7 on the website of the Bureau a proposed 

8 rule establishing guidelines for determining 

9 the size of any civil monetary penalties 

10 issued by the Bureau based on the severity 

11 of the actionable conduct in violation of a 

12 Federal consumer financial law and the 

13 level of culpability. The regulations pre14 scribed under this paragraph shall, to the 

15 extent possible, align with any chart, ma16 trix, rule, or guideline published by the Of17 fice of the Comptroller of the Currency, 

18 the Corporation, or the Board of Gov19 ernors. 

20 ‘‘(ii) FINAL RULE.—Not later than 1 

21 year after the date on which the proposed 

22 rule described in clause (i) is published, 

23 the Bureau shall publish a final rule based 

24 on the proposed rule.’’. 

Æ 


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