ACA International has advocated for clear guidance from the CFPB and appreciates the opportunities the pilot program will present for members and the ARM industry.
12/1/2020 14:30
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued its final Advisory Opinions Policy to publicly address regulatory uncertainty in the bureau’s existing regulations and provide guidance to entities on outstanding regulatory uncertainty, according to a news release issued Monday.
The final policy allows entities seeking to comply with regulatory requirements to submit a request for an advisory opinion to the bureau where uncertainty exists.
ACA International has advocated for clear guidance from the CFPB and appreciates the opportunities the pilot program will present for members and the accounts receivable management (ARM) industry. In previous comments to the CFPB, ACA expressed support of the bureau’s desire to provide clear guidance, interpretation and explanation regarding the bureau’s expectations of regulated entities like ACA members, ACA previously reported.
The bureau initiated its policy for issuing advisory opinions in response to feedback received from external stakeholders in a 2018 request for information encouraging the bureau to provide written guidance in cases of regulatory uncertainty.
The final policy is designed to enable compliance by resolving outstanding regulatory uncertainty. Notably, the final policy allows trade associations to request advisory opinions on behalf of members. This is something ACA is considering as we determine compliance ambiguities that remain in the debt collection rule in conjunction with potential leadership shifts at the bureau, which could alter the approach to how the advisory opinion program is used.
According to the CFPB, it will review the submissions received, prioritize certain requests for response, and issue opinions with a description of the incoming request. The bureau may also decide to issue advisory opinions on its own initiative. To increase transparency, the bureau will publish all advisory opinions in the Federal Register and on its website here.
When selecting requests for consideration, the bureau will prioritize open questions within its purview that can legally be addressed through an interpretive rule, according to the news release. The bureau intends to further evaluate potential topics for advisory opinions based on additional factors, including: alignment with the bureau’s statutory objectives; size of the benefit offered to consumers by resolution of the interpretive issue; known impact on the actions of other regulators; and impact on available bureau resources, it reports.
Under the final policy, any person or entity can submit a request for an advisory opinion via email to [email protected].