Newsroom

June 06, 2014

House committee eyes CFPB transparency

June 9, 2014 – The House Financial Services Committee will mark up several bills promoting transparency at CFPB tomorrow, including a bill requiring the agency to have open meetings and more public involvement.

H.R. 4262, the "Bureau Advisory Commission Transparency Act," was introduced by Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis, and would apply the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act to CFPB.

The committee will also look at H.R. 4383, the "Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Small Business Advisory Board Act," from Reps. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., and Dennis Heck, D-Wash., which would create a small business advisory council at the bureau.

The mark-up will address about a dozen bills, at least five of which specifically address CFPB operations. Other bills call for an independent inspector general for the agency, requiring a consumer opt-out on agency information collection, a process for obtaining legal opinions on new proposed consumer services and requiring a notice-and-comment period to precede any agency final guidance.

NAFCU wrote the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit on the need for more transparency at the agency, and its letter was entered into the record by subcommittee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito, R-W. Va., during its hearing on the subject in May.