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The Bureau is preparing to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking this spring concerning the use of agreements providing for arbitration of any future dispute between covered persons and consumers in connection with the offering or providing of certain consumer financial products or services. The rulemaking follows on a report that the Bureau issued to Congress in March 2015 as required by the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as on preliminary results of arbitration research that were released by the Bureau in December 2013. In fall 2015, the Bureau began the rulemaking process by releasing an outline explaining that it was considering whether to ban arbitration agreements from being used to compel arbitration of consumer class actions and whether to require the reporting of certain information concerning consumer arbitrations to the Bureau to facilitate monitoring. The Bureau convened 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 small businesses that may be affected by the policy proposals under consideration. The Bureau has also gathered extensive feedback from other stakeholders in preparation for the rulemaking.