In the Media
Chaos Consumes CFPB, Causing Uncertainty
Read Time: 1 minMember Brian Fink (Washington, DC) spoke with Bank Director Magazine for an article on the leadership changes at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), what rules might be undone, and what banks might expect from the agency.
It’s likely that the new leadership at the CFPB would seek to tweak or vacate some of these rules and others, though no detailed plans have been released yet. To unwind a regulation, the CFPB would need to follow the Administration Procedure Act, the law that dictates how federal agencies create and enforce regulations, and that could take time.
“It isn’t magic. The CFPB has to follow the rule of law,” says Brian Fink, a lawyer at McGlinchey Stafford who advises banks on compliance and regulatory issues. “You have to follow the proper process.”
Given the uncertainty, how much banks should prepare for these rules depends on how close the implementation date is, Fink says. For example, the medical debt rule is supposed to take effect next month. That means that the industry should be fairly far along in being able to abide by it, even if the courts vacate it or the CFPB decides to reverse it. If an implementation date is further away, then banks could slow their preparations to see what the CFPB’s new leadership decides, what actions Congress takes or how the courts rule.