I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5534 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 17, 2018 

Mr. DUFFY (for himself and Mr. PERLMUTTER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

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) GUIDANCE REQUIREMENTS.—The Di7 rector shall issue guidance that is necessary or 

8 appropriate to enable the Bureau to carry out 

9 Federal consumer financial law, including facili10 tating compliance with such law. 

11 ‘‘(B) GUIDANCE DEFINED.—For purposes 

12 of this paragraph, the term ‘guidance’— 

13 ‘‘(i) means any written interpretive or 

14 legislative rule, interim final rule, bulletin, 

15 statement of policy, letter, examination 

16 manual, frequently asked question, or 

17 other document issued by the Bureau re18 garding compliance with a Federal con19 sumer financial law that is exempt from 

20 notice and comment rulemaking require21 ments under section 553(b) of title 5, 

22 United States Code; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) does not include a complaint, 

24 consent order, judgment, or decision issued 

25 under subtitle E. 

26 ‘‘(C) RULEMAKING.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) PROPOSED RULE.—The Bureau 

2 shall publish in the Federal Register and 

3 on its website within 1 year after the date 

4 of the enactment of this paragraph a pro5 posed rule defining— 

6 ‘‘(I) each type of guidance it 

7 shall provide; 

8 ‘‘(II) the criteria the Bureau will 

9 use for selecting each type of guid10 ance; 

11 ‘‘(III) the process and timelines 

12 for requests for guidance; 

13 ‘‘(IV) the time periods for the re14 sponse of the Bureau to a request for 

15 each type of guidance; 

16 ‘‘(V) a process for amending or 

17 revoking guidance issued under the 

18 rule, including a process for public no19 tice and comment on any proposal to 

20 amend or revoke guidance, unless the 

21 Bureau determines public notice and 

22 comment is not required due to public 

23 exigency. 

24 ‘‘(ii) FINAL RULE.—The Bureau shall 

25 publish a final rule based on the proposed 


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1 rule described in clause (i) within 18 

2 months after the date of the enactment of 

3 this paragraph. 

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

5 No person shall be held liable for any act done 

6 or omitted in good faith in conformity with any 

7 applicable guidance from the Bureau or any 

8 predecessor agency that was in effect at the 

9 time of such act or omission, even if such guid10 ance is later revoked, amended, or rendered in11 consistent by guidance or action by the Bureau 

12 or a determination by a court of competent ju13 risdiction. 

14 ‘‘(E) DEVELOPMENT OF A PENALTY MA15 TRIX.—Not later than 18 months after the date 

16 of the enactment of this subparagraph, the Bu17 reau shall publish in the Federal Register and 

18 on its website a proposed rule establishing 

19 guidelines for determining the size of any civil 

20 monetary penalties issued by the Bureau based 

21 on the severity of the actionable conduct in vio22 lation of a Federal consumer financial law and 

23 the level of culpability. The regulations pre24 scribed under this paragraph shall, to the full25 est extent possible, align with any chart, maVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 20, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5534.IH H5534

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1 trix, rule, or guideline published by the Office 

2 of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal 

3 Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the Board of 

4 Governors of the Federal Reserve System.’’. 

Æ 


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