View Rule

In May 2016, the Bureau issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 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. The proposal would prohibit covered providers of certain consumer financial products and services from using an arbitration agreement to bar the consumer from filing or participating in a class action. Under the proposal, companies would still be able to include arbitration clauses in their contracts. However, for contracts subject to the proposal, the clauses would have to say explicitly that they cannot be used to stop consumers from being part of a class action in court. The proposal would also require a covered provider that has an arbitration agreement and that is involved in arbitration pursuant to a pre-dispute arbitration agreement to submit specified arbitral records to the Bureau. As the Bureau considers development of a final rule for early 2017, it is reviewing and considering comments on the proposed rule.