In mid-October 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released version 1.0 of its Supervision and Examination Manual.  Pursuant to Dodd-Frank, the CFPB has primary examination authority for compliance with federal consumer financial laws over banks having $10 billion or more in assets and their affiliates, such as banks’ service providers, as well as certain non-banks, including mortgage originators and payday lenders.  Part II of the Manual provides procedures for examining such institutions’ compliance with federal consumer financial laws, including financial privacy laws such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and sections 502 through 508 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.  The examination procedures resemble similar procedures released by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Federal Reserve Board. 

The procedures provide a walkthrough of the CFPB’s approach to examinations and use a “module” format designed to be tailored to the activities conducted by the institution.  For example, the FCRA examination procedures contain five modules: (1) Obtaining Consumer Reports, (2) Obtaining Information and Sharing among Affiliates, (3) Disclosures to Consumers and Miscellaneous Requirements, (4) Duties of Users of Consumer Reports and Furnishers of Consumer Report Information, and (5) Consumer Alerts and Identity Theft Protections. 

We are actively monitoring and advising clients regarding all aspects of the CFPB.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.