The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it will establish a taskforce to examine ways to modernize federal consumer financial laws.
The taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law will examine the existing legal and regulatory environment facing consumers and financial service providers. It will examine ways to improve and strengthen consumer financial regulations and report what it finds to CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger.
The taskforce will produce new research and legal analysis of consumer financial laws that will focus on harmonizing, modernizing and updating the existing consumer credit laws. It will identify gaps in knowledge that can be addressed through research, ways to improve consumer understanding or markets and products and potential conflicts or inconsistencies in existing regulations and guidance.
“An objective and independent evaluation of our current regulatory framework to identify where there may be gaps or where regulation should be simplified or modernized is needed to help us more effectively carry out our mission of protecting consumers,” Kraninger said. “As we work to set up the taskforce, we encourage interested individuals to apply to be considered to be part of the taskforce.”
The members of the taskforce have not yet been selected, but will include several members with a broad range of expertise in the areas of consumer protection and consumer financial products or services; analyzing consumer financial markets, laws and regulations; and a demonstrated record or senior public or academic services. The CFPB is now accepting applications for members to serve on the taskforce.
Earlier this year, The CFPB announced that it plans to “periodically” review its regulations and may amend or even abolish existing rules.
According to the CFPB, the review of its rules is stipulated by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which establishes that agencies should review certain rules within 10 years of their enactment and consider those rules’ impact on “small businesses.”
