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MEETING MINUTES

Meeting Date/Time: December 14, 2016, 1:30pm – 3:00pm

Location: Consumer Financial Protection Board, 1275 First Street NE

Agenda:

1. ACUS Update

2. 2017 COFO Conference Planning

3. Visiting Ombuds – Bank of Italy

4. Open mic

Highlights:

1. ACUS Update

ACUS Recommendations approved today, 12/14/2014. The finalized recommendations were 

voted in this morning and will be posted publicly on the ACUS website. It will then be filed as a 

Federal Register Notice which will include the entire ACUS report with their approved 

recommendations. Expectation is on the federal ombuds community to share the information in 

the Federal Register

- 16 recommendations in the document

- COFO concerns were raised and addressed throughout the process but not during the Plenary

Session. 

- A section in the Preamble and Recommendation 16 were changed. These two complementary

provisions were discussed at length as the designator for oversight of this committee. Now it 

states that an entity should be designated as a central resource for Congress but does not 

specify which agency should create the entity.

- The title is Organization/Cross Agency _____. Removed presidential authority and oversight. 

An entity should be designated as a central resource

- Title and use of “Ombudsmen” has been changed throughout the document to be “ombuds.”

- COFO next step: Provide support to the implementation, provide additional information for 

the standards, and market the standards. 
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2. 2017 Annual COFO Conference

- Will be held on Tuesday, October 24, 2017

- The COFO Executive Committee is considering a half-day pre-conference the day before on 

Monday, October 23, 2017 to provide information to agencies interested in creating an 

Ombuds Program more information on federal ombuds and COFO. 

- If you are interested in helping out with the pre-conference and conference, please reach out 

to anyone on the executive committee. We will be creating a conference committee.

3. Visitor Kiara Cavalari from the Bank of Italy, Consumer Protection Anti-Laundering Committee

- Ombudsman established by law and started to practice in 2009. Ombudsman has three panels. 

Each panel has 5 members that are appointed by the bank of Italy. This number will increase

over the next few years. Ombudsman decisions are not legally binding but they are published 

without the name of the customer or the bank. But if the banks refuse to comply, it is 

published on their website. This is an externally facing ombudsman program. The ombuds 

follow the European Directives set out by the European Union that have codified into 

legislation by each individual country.

- The panel selection is done by the ombudsman entity that supports the panels. Individuals can 

apply for the positions. The panel serves for three years and makes the decisions on who is 

selected. 

4. Open Mic

- Status of the COFO Standards? – Was put on hold pending outcome of ACUS’ 

Recommendations. The plan now is to support the standards that ACUS recommended. Goal 

is to revise and share with the COFO community by the end of January.

- Attending Holiday Parties as an Ombuds? – Can make exceptions for certain social events 

that are in the building

o One way to attend an all-hands town hall. Do not be seated with any other entity, 

whether its leadership or any specific group. 

o If an external ombuds, you could be on committees that are of public interest to the 

group but does not pertain to the ombuds role such as a security committee or a 

recycling committee.

o What to do with holiday cards? – A few ombuds discussed accepting the cards but 

not displaying the cards in the office to support impartiality.

o Marketing ideas – Attending an employee engagement council. Being 

available/visible. Posting information on a blog or sharepoint site. Videos. Welcome 

email to new hires. Brochures and materials about the office.

o Final points from the Chair and Vice-Chair: Finding the balance between being 

approachable and friendly but not aligned with any one person or group. There’s no 

one-size fits all process. Ask your peers and work with COFO on these questions. Be 

mindful of the standards when approaching these questions. Being an ombuds is a 
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work in progress much like an art-form; each question should be handled on a caseby-case basis.

Attendees:

In-Person

Cavalari, Kiara – Bank of Italy

Drefchinski, Megan – Federal Reserve Board

Kamenshine, Wendy - Customer Financial Protection Bureau

Maurer, Bill – Department of Energy

McNeil – Tracey – U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Qaasim, Kakeisla - Customer Financial Protection Bureau

Sotoudeh, Paul – U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Phone 

Anderson, Jeffrey – Department of State

Barrar, Riley – Customer Financial Protection Bureau

Bedlivy, Dawn – National Security Agency

Behr, Virginia – Department of Health and Human Services

Bookstein, Monique – Department of Justice

Brown, Andrea - U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Bunns, Felicia – Department of Energy

Dodson, Shireen – Department of State

Fox, Angela - USDA

Gordon, Laurel – US Marshals Service

Guay, Kimberly – Department of Justice 

Kurtz, Becky – Department of Health and Human Services

Little, Time – Department of State

Merrix, Celeste – Department of Homeland Security

Mills, Laurel – Department of Justice

Patel, Bina –NGIC

Reiley, Kevin – National Aerospace and Space Administration

Roberts, Sara – Department of Homeland Security

Stukes, Jock – National Reconnaissance Organization

Teixeira, Rachel – Department of State

Weber, Guy – Department of Defense

Zrubek, Tom – Department of Defense