Vol. 82 Thursday, 

No. 163 August 24, 2017 

Part XXII 

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 

Semiannual Regulatory Agenda 

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40386 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 163 / Thursday, August 24, 2017 / Unified Agenda 

1The listing does not include certain routine, 

frequent, or administrative matters. Further, certain 

of the information fields for the listing are not 

applicable to independent regulatory agencies, 

including the CFPB, and, accordingly, the CFPB has 

indicated responses of ‘‘no’’ for such fields. 

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL 

PROTECTION 

12 CFR Ch. X 

Semiannual Regulatory Agenda 

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. 

ACTION: Semiannual regulatory agenda. 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection (CFPB or Bureau) is 

publishing this agenda as part of the 

Spring 2017 Unified Agenda of Federal 

Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. 

The CFPB reasonably anticipates having 

the regulatory matters identified below 

under consideration during the period 

from May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018. The 

next agenda will be published in fall 

2017, and will update this agenda 

through fall 2018. Publication of this 

agenda is in accordance with the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 

et seq.). 

DATES: This information is current as of 

April 7, 2017. 

ADDRESSES: Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection, 1700 G Street NW., 

Washington, DC 20552. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A 

staff contact is included for each 

regulatory item listed herein. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CFPB 

is publishing its spring 2017 Agenda as 

part of the Spring 2017 Unified Agenda 

of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory 

Actions, which is coordinated by the 

Office of Management and Budget under 

Executive Order 12866. The agenda lists 

the regulatory matters that the CFPB 

reasonably anticipates having under 

consideration during the period from 

May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018, as 

described further below.1 The CFPB’s 

participation in the Unified Agenda is 

voluntary. The complete Unified 

Agenda is available to the public at the 

following Web site: http://

www.reginfo.gov. 

Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall 

Street Reform and Consumer Protection 

Act, Public Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 1376 

(Dodd-Frank Act), the CFPB has 

rulemaking, supervisory, enforcement, 

and other authorities relating to 

consumer financial products and 

services. These authorities include the 

ability to issue regulations under more 

than a dozen Federal consumer 

financial laws, which transferred to the 

CFPB from seven Federal agencies on 

July 21, 2011. The Bureau’s general 

purpose as specified in section 1021 of 

the Dodd-Frank Act is to implement and 

enforce Federal consumer financial law 

consistently for the purpose of ensuring 

that all consumers have access to 

markets for consumer financial products 

and services and that markets for 

consumer financial products and 

services are fair, transparent, and 

competitive. 

The CFPB is working on a wide range 

of initiatives to address issues in 

markets for consumer financial products 

and services that are not reflected in this 

notice because the Unified Agenda is 

limited to rulemaking activities. Section 

1021 of the Dodd-Frank Act specifies 

the objectives of the Bureau, including 

providing consumers with timely and 

understandable information to make 

responsible decisions about financial 

transactions; protecting consumers from 

unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and 

practices and from discrimination; 

addressing outdated, unnecessary, or 

unduly burdensome regulations; 

enforcing Federal consumer financial 

law consistently in order to promote fair 

competition, without regard to the 

status of a covered person as a 

depository institution; and promoting 

the transparent and efficient operation 

of markets for consumer financial 

products and services to facilitate access 

and innovation. The CFPB’s regulatory 

work in pursuit of those objectives can 

be grouped into three main categories: 

(1) Implementing statutory directives; 

(2) other efforts to address market 

failures, facilitate fair competition 

among financial services providers, and 

improve consumer understanding; and 

(3) modernizing, clarifying, and 

streamlining consumer financial 

regulations to reduce unwarranted 

regulatory burdens. 

Implementing Statutory Directives 

Much of the Bureau’s rulemaking 

work is focusing on implementing 

directives mandated in the Dodd-Frank 

Act and other statutes. As part of these 

rulemakings, the Bureau is working to 

achieve the consumer protection 

objectives of the statutes while 

minimizing regulatory burden on 

financial services providers and 

facilitating a smooth implementation 

process for both industry and 

consumers. 

For example, the Bureau is continuing 

efforts to facilitate implementation of 

critical consumer protections under the 

Dodd-Frank Act that guard against 

mortgage market practices that 

contributed to the nation’s most 

significant financial crisis in several 

decades. Since 2013, the Bureau has 

issued regulations as directed by the 

Dodd-Frank Act to implement certain 

protections for mortgage originations 

and servicing, integrate various Federal 

mortgage disclosures, and amend 

mortgage reporting requirements under 

the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act 

(HMDA). The Bureau is conducting 

follow-up rulemakings as warranted to 

address issues that have arisen during 

the implementation process for these 

rules and to provide greater clarification 

and certainty to financial services 

providers. The Bureau has three such 

efforts underway at this time: 

• The Bureau expects to issue a final 

rule this summer to make certain 

adjustments and clarifications to prior 

rules mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act 

to combine several Federal mortgage 

disclosures that consumers receive in 

connection with applying for and 

closing on a mortgage loan under the 

Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the 

Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act 

(RESPA). The consolidated disclosures 

rule is the cornerstone of the Bureau’s 

broader ‘‘Know Before You Owe’’ 

mortgage initiative. 

• The Bureau is conducting two 

follow-up rulemakings to facilitate 

compliance with its prior rule to 

implement Dodd-Frank amendments to 

HMDA, which largely takes effect in 

2018, as well as provisions of the Equal 

Credit Opportunity Act that also 

concern data collection and reporting. 

The Bureau is also continuing to work 

closely with industry and other 

regulators to streamline and modernize 

HMDA data collection and reporting in 

conjunction with implementation of the 

Dodd-Frank amendments. 

• The Bureau is expecting to issue a 

small final rule later this summer 

making technical corrections to the 

mortgage servicing rule that the Bureau 

issued in August 2016 under Regulation 

X (which implements RESPA) and 

Regulation Z (which implements TILA). 

The Bureau is also starting work to 

implement section 1071 of the DoddFrank Act, which amends ECOA to 

require financial institutions to report 

information concerning credit 

applications made by women-owned, 

minority-owned, and small businesses. 

The Bureau is focusing on outreach and 

research to develop its understanding of 

the players, products, and practices in 

the small business lending market and 

of the potential ways to implement 

section 1071. The CFPB then expects to 

begin developing proposed regulations 

concerning the data to be collected, 

potential ways to minimize burdens on 

lenders, and appropriate procedures and 

privacy protections needed for 

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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 163 / Thursday, August 24, 2017 / Unified Agenda 40387 

information-gathering and public 

disclosure. 

Other Efforts To Address Market 

Failures, Facilitate Fair Competition 

Among Financial Services Providers, 

and Improve Consumer Understanding 

The Bureau is considering rules in 

places where there are substantial 

market failures that make it difficult for 

consumers to engage in informed 

decision making and otherwise protect 

their own interests. In addition, the 

Dodd-Frank Act directs the Bureau to 

focus on activities that promote fair 

competition among financial services 

providers, which itself has substantial 

benefits for consumers. 

For example, the Bureau released a 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) 

in June 2016, building on several years 

of research documenting consumer 

harms from practices related to payday 

loans, auto title loans, and other similar 

credit products. In particular, the 

Bureau is concerned that product 

structure, lack of underwriting, and 

certain other lender practices are 

interfering with consumer decision 

making with regard to such products 

and trapping large numbers of 

consumers in extended cycles of debt 

that they do not expect. The Bureau is 

also concerned that certain lenders’ 

payment collection practices are causing 

substantial harm to consumers, 

including substantial unexpected fees 

and heightened risk of losing their 

checking accounts. The Bureau 

continues to believe that the concerns 

articulated in the NPRM are substantial, 

and is carefully considering more than 

one million comments received in 

response to the proposal with respect to 

how best to address those concerns in 

a manner consistent with the Bureau’s 

objectives under the Dodd-Frank Act. 

The Bureau is also considering 

comments received in response to its 

May 2016 NPRM concerning the use of 

agreements between financial services 

providers and consumers providing for 

arbitration of any future disputes. The 

rulemaking follows on a groundbreaking 

study by the Bureau, as mandated by 

Congress under the Dodd-Frank Act. 

The Bureau is concerned that these 

‘‘mandatory pre-dispute arbitration 

agreements’’ are being used to prevent 

consumers from joining together to 

obtain relief for legal violations 

concerning consumer financial products 

and services, and that financial services 

providers who use such agreements 

therefore have far weaker incentives to 

obey the law than providers who do not. 

The Bureau continues to believe that the 

concerns articulated in the NPRM are 

substantial, and is carefully considering 

more than 120,000 comments received 

in response to the proposal with respect 

to how best to address those concerns in 

a manner consistent with the Bureau’s 

objectives under the Dodd-Frank Act. 

The Bureau is also engaged in 

rulemaking activities regarding the debt 

collection market, which continues to 

be the single largest source of 

complaints to the Federal Government 

of any industry. The Bureau is 

concerned that because consumers 

cannot choose their debt collectors or 

‘‘vote with their feet,’’ they have less 

ability to protect themselves from 

harmful practices. In January 2017, the 

Bureau published the results of a survey 

of consumers about their experiences 

with debt collection. The Bureau has 

also received encouragement from 

industry to engage in rulemaking to 

resolve conflicts in case law and address 

issues of concern under the Fair Debt 

Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), such 

as the application of the FDCPA to 

modern communication technologies 

under the 40-year-old statute. The 

Bureau released an outline of proposals 

under consideration in July 2016, 

concerning practices by companies that 

are ‘‘debt collectors’’ under the FDCPA, 

in advance of convening a panel under 

the Small Business Regulatory 

Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) in 

conjunction with the Office of 

Management and Budget and the Small 

Business Administration’s Chief 

Counsel for Advocacy to consult with 

representatives of small businesses that 

might be affected by the rulemaking. 

Building on the feedback received 

through the SBREFA process and other 

sources, the Bureau has now decided to 

issue a proposed rule later in 2017 

concerning FDCPA collectors’ 

communications practices and 

consumer disclosures. The Bureau 

intends to follow up separately at a later 

time about concerns regarding 

information flows between creditors and 

FDCPA collectors and about potential 

rules to govern creditors that collect 

their own debts. 

The Bureau is also engaged in policy 

analysis and further research initiatives 

in preparation for a potential 

rulemaking regarding overdraft 

programs on checking accounts. After 

several years of research, the Bureau 

believes that there are consumer 

protection concerns with regard to these 

programs. Consumers do not shop based 

on overdraft fee amounts and policies, 

and the market for overdraft services 

does not appear to be competitive. 

Under the current regulatory regime 

consumers can opt in to permit their 

financial institution to charge fees for 

ATM and point-of-sale debit overdrafts, 

but the complexity of the system may 

complicate consumer decision making. 

Despite widespread use of disclosure 

forms, the regime produces substantially 

different opt-in rates across different 

depository institutions and the Bureau’s 

supervisory and enforcement work 

indicates that some institutions are 

aggressively steering consumers to opt 

in. The CFPB is engaged in consumer 

testing of revised opt-in forms and 

considering whether other regulatory 

changes may be warranted to enhance 

consumer decision making. 

In addition, the Bureau is continuing 

rulemaking activities that will ensure 

meaningful supervision of non-bank 

financial services providers in order to 

create a more level playing field for 

depository and non-depository 

institutions. Under section 1024 of the 

Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB is authorized 

to supervise ‘‘larger participants’’ of 

markets for various consumer financial 

products and services as defined by 

Bureau rule. The Bureau has defined the 

threshold for larger participants in 

several markets in past rulemakings, 

and is now working to develop a 

proposed rule that would define nonbank ‘‘larger participants’’ in the market 

for personal loans, including consumer 

installment loans and vehicle title loans. 

The Bureau is also considering whether 

rules to require registration of these or 

other non-depository lenders would 

facilitate supervision, as has been 

suggested to the Bureau by both 

consumer advocates and industry 

groups. 

The Bureau’s recent rulemaking 

concerning prepaid financial products 

also advanced fairness and consistency 

objectives by creating a uniform 

disclosure regime and providing basic 

protections similar to those enjoyed by 

users of debit cards and credit cards. 

The Bureau is in the process of working 

with industry to facilitate 

implementation of this rule, and 

recently proposed to extend the October 

2017, effective date by six months in 

order to ensure a smoother transition for 

consumers and industry. The Bureau is 

also considering concerns raised by 

industry participants regarding certain 

substantive aspects of the prepaid rule 

that they assert are posing particular 

complexities for implementation or may 

have negative consequences for 

consumers that were not anticipated or 

fully explained by commenters in the 

course of the original rulemaking. The 

Bureau expects to issue a proposal to 

make some substantive changes to the 

rule in response to these concerns later 

this spring. 

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40388 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 163 / Thursday, August 24, 2017 / Unified Agenda 

2 82 FR 15009 (Mar. 24, 2017). 

3 81 FR 83806 (Nov. 22, 2016). 

4 82 FR 11183 (Feb. 17, 2017). 

5 76 FR 75825 (Dec. 5, 2011). 

6See 79 FR 64057 (Oct. 28, 2014); 78 FR 25818 

(May 3, 2013); 78 FR 18221 (Mar. 26, 2013). In some 

cases Congress took action related to the same 

topics identified as part of the Bureau’s 

streamlining initiative. See, e.g., 81 FR 44801 (July 

11, 2016); 78 FR 18221 (Mar. 26, 2013). 

7The Bureau expects to complete work later this 

year on a final rule amending certain requirements 

concerning annual privacy notices under the 

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The Bureau conducted a 

prior rulemaking to make it easier for financial 

services providers to deliver such notices via their 

Web sites. 79 FR 64057 (Oct. 28, 2014). Congress 

then amended the underlying law to create a 

broader exception. That amendment took effect in 

December 2015, and the Bureau is completing 

certain conforming regulatory amendments to 

reflect the statutory change. 

Modernizing, Streamlining, and 

Clarifying Consumer Financial 

Regulations 

The Bureau’s third group of activities 

concerns modernizing, streamlining, 

and clarifying consumer financial 

regulations and other activities to 

reduce unwarranted regulatory burdens 

as directed by the Dodd-Frank Act. 

Since most of the Federal consumer 

financial laws that the Bureau 

administers were enacted in the 1960s 

and 1970s, there is often substantial 

demand for these activities from both 

industry and consumer advocates alike. 

In addition to some of the projects 

mentioned above that advance these 

objectives, such as the HMDA processes 

modernization and debt collection 

rulemakings, the Bureau is pursuing a 

number of other research, policy, and 

rulemaking initiatives. For example, 

section 1022(d) of the Dodd-Frank Act 

specifically directs the Bureau to assess 

the effectiveness of significant rules five 

years after they are implemented, 

including seeking public comment. The 

Bureau recently published a request for 

comment on its plan to assess the 

effectiveness of the rule the Bureau 

adopted to implement provisions of the 

Dodd-Frank Act regulating consumer 

remittance transfers of money to 

international recipients,2 and expects to 

seek comment later this year on its 

plans to assess the effectiveness of 

certain of the Dodd-Frank Act mortgage 

rules discussed above. As required by 

section 1022(d), those notices will 

solicit comments on recommendations 

for modifying, expanding, or 

eliminating the rules in regulation. The 

Bureau expects to conduct substantial 

research for each of the section 1022(d) 

assessments, which will not only lay the 

foundation for subsequent decisions as 

to whether adjustments to the specific 

rules are warranted but also to continue 

to refine its thinking about how best to 

assess the benefits and costs of 

individual regulations more generally. 

The Bureau is also considering rules 

to modernize the Bureau’s database of 

credit card agreements to reduce burden 

on issuers that submit credit card 

agreements to the Bureau and make the 

database more useful for consumers and 

the general public. The Credit Card 

Accountability Responsibility and 

Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act) 

requires credit card issuers to post their 

credit card agreements to their Internet 

site, and submit those agreements to the 

Bureau to be posted on an Internet site 

maintained by the Bureau. The Bureau 

believes an improved submission 

process and database would be more 

efficient for both industry and the 

Bureau and would allow consumers and 

the general public to access and analyze 

information more easily. 

The Bureau has also launched several 

initiatives focusing on ways to facilitate 

technological and product innovation 

that could benefit consumers. These 

include the CFPB’s Trial Disclosure 

Waiver Program, which is designed to 

implement the Bureau’s authority under 

section 1032 of the Dodd-Frank Act to 

grant financial services providers 

temporary waivers to conduct 

controlled field experiments of 

consumer disclosures. In addition, the 

Bureau has published a policy to 

facilitate the issuance of ‘‘No Action 

Letters’’ indicating that Bureau staff has 

no present intention to recommend 

enforcement or supervisory action with 

respect to specific applicants who wish 

to provide innovative financial products 

or services that promise substantial 

consumer benefit but raise substantial 

uncertainty as to application of existing 

consumer financial laws. The Bureau 

has also recently published two 

Requests for Information (RFI) seeking 

to explore the potential benefits and 

risks to consumers of recent 

developments in the marketplace 

relating to use of consumer data. 

Specifically, one RFI focused on how 

consumers are exercising control over 

their own personal financial data, 

including the data maintained by their 

financial institutions, both through 

direct access of the data and consumers’ 

sharing of such data with third parties 

such as companies that use aggregated 

data to provide consumers with 

financial advice and tracking services 

across multiple types of financial 

accounts.3 The other concerned use of 

so-called ‘‘alternative data’’ in the credit 

process, including to assess the 

creditworthiness of consumers who do 

not have substantial traditional credit 

histories.4

The Bureau also expects later this 

year to begin the first in a series of 

reviews of existing regulations that it 

inherited from other agencies through 

the transfer of authorities under the 

Dodd-Frank Act. The Bureau had 

previously sought feedback on the 

inherited rules as a whole,5 and 

identified and executed several burden 

reduction projects from that 

undertaking.6 The Bureau has largely 

completed those initial projects,7 and 

believes that the next logical step is to 

review individual regulations—or 

portions of large regulations—in more 

detail to identify opportunities to clarify 

ambiguities, address developments in 

the marketplace, or modernize or 

streamline provisions. The Bureau notes 

that other Federal financial services 

regulators have engaged in these types 

of reviews over time, and believes that 

such an initiative would be a natural 

complement to its work to facilitate 

implementation of new regulations. 

The Bureau has also recently formed 

an internal task force to coordinate and 

deepen the Agency’s focus on concerns 

about regulatory burdens and on 

projects to identify and reduce 

unwarranted regulatory burdens 

consistent with the Bureau’s objectives 

under section 1021 of the Dodd-Frank 

Act. 

Further Planning 

Finally, the Bureau is continuing to 

conduct outreach and research to assess 

issues in various other markets for 

consumer financial products and 

services beyond those discussed above. 

As this work continues, the Bureau will 

evaluate possible policy responses, 

including possible rulemaking actions, 

taking into account the critical need for 

and effectiveness of various policy tools. 

The Bureau will update its regulatory 

agenda in fall 2018, to reflect the results 

of this further prioritization and 

planning. 

Dated: April 7, 2017. 

Kelly Thompson Cochran, 

Assistant Director for Regulations, Bureau of 

Consumer Financial Protection. 

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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 163 / Thursday, August 24, 2017 / Unified Agenda 40389 

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU—PRERULE STAGE

Sequence No. Title Regulation 

Identifier No. 

267 .................... Business Lending Data (Regulation B) ............................................................................................................ 3170–AA09 

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU—PROPOSED RULE STAGE

Sequence No. Title Regulation 

Identifier No. 

268 .................... Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans .................................................................... 3170–AA40 

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION 

BUREAU (CFPB) 

Prerule Stage 

267. Business Lending Data (Regulation 

B) 

Legal Authority: 15 U.S.C. 1691c–2 

Abstract: Section 1071 of the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) 

amends the Equal Credit Opportunity 

Act (ECOA) to require financial 

institutions to report information 

concerning credit applications made by 

women-owned, minority-owned, and 

small businesses. The amendments to 

ECOA made by the Dodd-Frank Act 

require that certain data be collected 

and maintained, including the number 

of the application and date the 

application was received; the type and 

purpose of the loan or credit applied for; 

the amount of credit applied for and 

approved; the type of action taken with 

regard to each application and the date 

of such action; the census tract of the 

principal place of business; the gross 

annual revenue of the business; and the 

race, sex, and ethnicity of the principal 

owners of the business. The Dodd-Frank 

Act also provides authority for the CFPB 

to require any additional data that the 

CFPB determines would aid in fulfilling 

the purposes of this section. The Bureau 

is focusing on outreach and research to 

develop its understanding of the 

players, products, and practices in the 

small business lending market and of 

the potential ways to implement section 

1071. The CFPB then expects to begin 

developing proposed regulations 

concerning the data to be collected, 

potential ways to minimize burdens on 

lenders, and appropriate procedures and 

privacy protections needed for 

information-gathering and public 

disclosure. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

Prerule Activities 06/00/17 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: Yes. 

Agency Contact: Elena Grigera 

Babinecz, Office of Regulations, 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 

Phone: 202 435–7700. 

RIN: 3170–AA09 

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION 

BUREAU (CFPB) 

Proposed Rule Stage 

268. Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain 

High-Cost Installment Loans 

Legal Authority: 12 U.S.C. 5531; 12 

U.S.C. 5532; 12 U.S.C. 5512; 12 U.S.C. 

5551 

Abstract: The Bureau is conducting a 

rulemaking to address consumer harms 

from practices related to payday loans 

and other similar credit products, 

including failure to determine whether 

consumers have the ability to repay 

without default or reborrowing and 

certain payment collection practices. 

The Bureau released a Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking in June 2016 that 

would identify it as an abusive and 

unfair practice for a lender to make a 

covered loan without reasonably 

determining that the consumer has the 

ability to repay the loan. Among other 

things, the proposal would require that, 

before making a covered loan, a lender 

must reasonably determine that the 

consumer has the ability to repay the 

loan. The Bureau received more than 1 

million comments on the proposal. 

Timetable: 

Action Date FR Cite 

NPRM .................. 07/22/16 81 FR 47863 

Request For Information.07/22/16 81 FR 47781 

NPRM Comment 

Period End.

10/07/16 

Request For Information Comment Period 

End.

11/07/16 

Complete Initial 

Review of Comments to NPRM.

06/00/17 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis 

Required: Yes. 

Agency Contact: Mark Morelli, Office 

of Regulations, Consumer Financial 

Protection Bureau, Phone: 202 435– 

7700. 

RIN: 3170–AA40 

[FR Doc. 2017–16984 Filed 8–23–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P 

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