Newsroom

April 16, 2012

NAFCU backs CFPB privileged information rule

April 16, 2012 – NAFCU supports the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposed rule for ensuring the confidential treatment of information disclosed during the examination process and is encouraging that it be finalized as soon as possible.

"As the CFPB is aware, the other federal banking agencies provide protection to information disclosed during the examination and supervision process," Dillon Shea, NAFCU's regulatory affairs counsel, said in an official comment letter Friday to the bureau. "Failure on the part of the CFPB to provide similar protection could lead to the disclosure of sensitive information that could cause litigation and safety and soundness concerns for credit unions."

Shea noted the need for the clarification offered by the proposed rule given the state of current law. "As the law currently stands, covered entities may be understandably leery of providing some information to the CFPB; this situation benefits no one," he wrote. "Providing clarity on this important issue will ensure the rights of financial institutions while also allowing the CFPB to better do its job."

NAFCU is also urging the CFPB to continue to work with Congress to pass legislation clarifying current law.

The House last month passed the NAFCU-supported H.R. 4014, which is on the Senate's calendar, ready for action. H.R. 4014 and S. 2099, which are identical, would revise the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to clarify that information provided to the CFPB receives the same level of protection as information provided to financial institutions' prudential regulators, such as NCUA.