On February 3, a trade association representing the financial services industry sent a letter to new CFPB leadership commending it for the agency-wide pause of all rulemaking, litigation and other activities and suggesting a list of reforms to the Bureau.
In summary, the AFSA recommended the Bureau cease “rulemaking via guidance” — citing various policy statements, blog posts, interpretive rules and amicus briefs that purport to clarify the agency’s positions — and instead take the following approaches: (i) adopt policies and procedures to ensure that rulemaking is done in compliance with the APA; (ii) pause all open rulemakings and review them in light of the current administration’s priorities; (iii) rescind or revise certain recent rulemakings including the credit card late fee rule and the nonbank registry for enforcement actions; (iv) halt “risk-based” supervision and make other structural changes to the supervisory function; (v) pause all current enforcement actions pending review by new leadership; and (vi) institute procedural rules that limit enforcement actions to violations of law and regulations issued in accordance with the APA, not based on violations of CFPB guidance.
