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 2014 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The CFPB reasonably anticipates having the regulatory matters identified below under consideration during the period from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015. The next agenda will be published in the fall of 2014 and will update this agenda through the fall of 2015. 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 February 28, 2014.

ADDRESS: 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 2014 agenda as part of the Spring 2014 Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, which is coordinated by the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 12866. The CFPB's participation in the Unified Agenda is voluntary. The complete Unified Agenda will be available to the public at the following website: 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 CFPB also 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.

The CFPB reasonably anticipates having the regulatory matters identified below under consideration during the period from April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015.¹ Among the Bureau's more significant regulatory efforts are the following.

Implementing Dodd-Frank Act Mortgage Protections

First, the CFPB is continuing its regulatory efforts to implement critical consumer protections under the Dodd-Frank Act. For instance, in November 2013 the Bureau issued a Final Rule to consolidate Federal mortgage disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The new "Know Before You Owe" mortgage forms will replace the existing Federal disclosures and help consumers understand their options, choose the deal that's best for them, and avoid costly surprises at the closing table. This rule will be effective August 1, 2015, and in the coming months, the Bureau will provide additional regulatory implementation support information to help industry understand and implement the rule.

The Bureau is also continuing rulemaking activities to assist in the full implementation of, and facilitate compliance with, various mortgage-related final rules issued by the Bureau in January 2013, strengthening consumer protections involving the origination and servicing of mortgages. These rules, implementing requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act, were all effective by January 2014, however the Bureau is planning to engage in further rulemaking to consider certain additional refinements to these rules.

In addition, the Bureau has begun work in preparation to implement Dodd-Frank Act amendments to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) that require, among other things, supplementation of existing data reporting requirements regarding housing-related loans and applications for such loans.

Bureau Regulatory Efforts in Other Consumer Markets

Second, the CFPB is working on and considering a number of rulemakings to address important consumer protection issues in other markets for consumer financial products and services. For instance, the Bureau is reviewing comments received in response to an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on debt collection, and has been engaged in extensive research and analysis concerning payday loans, deposit advance products, and bank and credit union overdraft programs, building on Bureau white papers issued in April and June 2013.

The Bureau is also continuing work on a number of earlier initiatives concerning consumer payment services. For instance, following on an earlier Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning general purpose reloadable prepaid cards, the Bureau expects to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning prepaid cards in mid-2014. The Bureau also expects to issue a proposal shortly to consider whether to extend the sunset of a provision of the Dodd-Frank Act allowing depository institutions to estimate certain items on disclosures concerning consumer remittance transfers to foreign countries.

Third, the Bureau is continuing rulemaking activities that will further establish the Bureau's nonbank supervisory authority by defining larger participants of certain markets for consumer financial products and services. Larger participants of such markets, as the Bureau defines by rule, are subject to the Bureau's supervisory authority.

Bureau Regulatory Streamlining Efforts

Fourth, the Bureau is continuing work to consider opportunities to modernize and streamline regulations that it inherited from other agencies pursuant to a transfer of rulemaking authority under the Dodd-Frank Act. This work includes implementing the consolidation and streamlining of Federal mortgage disclosure forms discussed earlier, and exploring opportunities to reduce unwarranted regulatory burden as part of the HMDA rulemaking. The Bureau is also expecting to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking shortly to explore whether to modify certain requirements under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to provide annual notices regarding financial institutions' data sharing practices.

Finally, the Bureau is continuing to assess timelines for other rulemakings mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act or inherited from other agencies and to conduct outreach and research to assess issues in various other markets for consumer financial products and services. 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 2014 to reflect the results of this further prioritization and planning.

Dated: February 28, 2014.

NAME: Meredith Fuchs,

General Counsel, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

^[1] The 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.