Continuing a trend set by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is promoting the use of innovation to facilitate compliance.  On Sept. 10, 2019, the CFPB announced it issued the following three new policies:

  1. Trial Disclosure Program (TDP) Policy
  2. Compliance Assistance Sandbox (CAS) Policy
  3. No-Action Letter (NAL) Policy

The TDP policy provides permission from the CFPB for entities testing alternative disclosures.  There is a streamlined application and review process for trial disclosure programs.  The CAS policy provides a safe harbor from liability for financial products and services evaluated and approved by the CFPB.  The liability extends to Regulation Z, E and B.

The NAL policy is intended to provide more regulatory certainty for new products and services. NALs essentially state that the CFPB will not bring a supervisory or enforcement action against a company for providing certain products and services.  On Sept. 10, 2019, the CFPB issued its first NAL stating it will not take supervisory or enforcement action under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) against housing counseling agencies that have entered into certain fee-for-service arrangements with lenders for pre-purchase housing counseling services.

Author

John Zasada, JD, CAMS – Compliance Consulting Director, Financial Institutions Group. John can be reached at zasada@doeren.com.