The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") is soliciting public input on its Civil Investigative Demands ("CIDs") process. CIDs are requests for information that are issued in relation to enforcement actions.
While CIDs are used to support investigatory and enforcement efforts, the CFPB recognizes that CIDs may impose burdens on recipients. The agency is requesting feedback concerning how CIDs can be updated to better achieve CFPB objectives, minimize burdens and align with existing processes in place for other agencies with similar authorities.
Comments will be due 60 days after the publication of the request in the Federal Register.
Commentary / Jodi Avergun
Following closely on the heels of the CFPB's pronouncement on Tuesday that the bureau will aim to be as mindful of the concerns of the companies it regulates as it is of consumers using the services of those companies, the request for public information on the bureau's civil investigative demand process delivers a one-two punch to the enforcement power of the bureau. The request for public comment on the agency's subpoena authority is good news for entities that felt the sting of expensive and burdensome CIDs issued under the leadership of the bureau's former Director. The notice and request for information outlines all of the ways in which the public can complain about the cumbersome process for responding to CIDs, providing a road map to beleaguered banks and financial institutions as to how best to rein in the agency.
This may be the first time a regulatory agency has asked for public comment about how to best relax its enforcement authority. It is a remarkable document that cannot be read in isolation from recent statements by Director Mulvaney about his intent to restrain the agency. In its early years, the eponymous CFPB was aggressive in its mission to protect consumers - so aggressive, according to critics, that it lost sight of fairness. This notice is a blunt reevaluation of that posture. Entities that have specific data about costs and time wasted in responding to overreaching demands will be best situated to respond to the notice and hasten the revamp of the agency.
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