Rescission of Statement of Policy on Bureau Supervisory and Enforcement Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

Published date06 April 2021
Citation86 FR 17699
Record Number2021-06964
SectionRules and Regulations
CourtConsumer Financial Protection Bureau
17699
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 64 / Tuesday, April 6, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
1
https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/
cfpb_supervisory-enforcement-statement_covid-19_
2020-03.pdf.
competitive.’’ 12 U.S.C. 5511(a).
Declining to cite conduct that is a
violation of TILA and Regulation Z
based on the articulated principles in
the Statement may skew the consumer
financial marketplace, to the detriment
of market participants who provide
written disclosures in accordance with
TILA and Regulation Z while
demonstrating an ability to quickly
assist consumers and respond to the
credit needs of consumers during the
pandemic. To fulfill its statutory
mandate, the Bureau has made it a
priority to direct its supervisory,
enforcement, and other tools to ensure
that consumers are afforded full
protection under the law. It is therefore
more important than ever that financial
institutions will adhere to the consumer
protection requirements of TILA and
Regulation Z in their interactions with
consumers and that the Bureau use its
supervisory and enforcement tools to
the full extent and with the full
flexibility afforded by Congress.
The Bureau hereby rescinds, as of
April 1, 2021, its Statement on
Supervisory and Enforcement Practices
Regarding Electronic Credit Card
Disclosures in Light of the COVID–19
Pandemic and instructs all financial
institutions, including credit card
issuers, to comply with their obligations
under TILA (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) as
implemented by Regulation Z (12 CFR
part 1026). Instead, in its discretion, the
Bureau intends to exercise its
supervisory and enforcement authority
consistent with the Dodd-Frank Act and
with the full authority afforded by
Congress consistent with the statutory
purpose and objectives of the Bureau.
The Bureau does not intend to cite in an
examination or initiate an enforcement
action against any entity that did not
comply with the TILA and Regulation Z
written disclosure requirements as
described in the Statement between
June 3, 2020, and April 30, 2021.
Regulatory Requirements
The Statement constituted a general
statement of policy exempt from the
notice and comment rulemaking
requirements of the Administrative
Procedure Act (APA). It was intended to
provide information regarding the
Bureau’s general plans to exercise its
supervisory and enforcement discretion
and did not impose any legal
requirements on external parties, nor
did it create or confer any substantive
rights on external parties that could be
enforceable in any administrative or
civil proceeding. This rescission
likewise is a general statement of policy
exempt from the notice and comment
rulemaking requirements of the APA. It
is intended to provide information
regarding the Bureau’s general plans to
exercise its supervision and
enforcement discretion and does not
impose any legal requirements on
external parties or create or confer any
substantive rights on external parties
that could be enforceable in any
administrative or civil proceedings. No
notice of proposed rulemaking was
originally required in issuing the
Statement, and it is not required in
issuing this rescission. The Regulatory
Flexibility Act also does not require an
initial or final regulatory flexibility
analysis for this rescission. The Bureau
has also determined that the rescission
of the Statement does not impose any
new or revise any existing
recordkeeping, reporting, or disclosure
requirements on covered entities or
members of the public that would be
collections of information requiring
approval by the Office of Management
and Budget under the Paperwork
Reduction Act.
Dated: March 29, 2021.
David Uejio,
Acting Director, Bureau of Consumer
Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2021–06970 Filed 4–5–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P
BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL
PROTECTION
12 CFR Chapter X
Rescission of Statement of Policy on
Bureau Supervisory and Enforcement
Response to COVID–19 Pandemic
AGENCY
: Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection.
ACTION
: Rescission of statement of
policy.
SUMMARY
: The Bureau of Consumer
Financial Protection (Bureau) is
rescinding the Statement on Bureau
Supervisory and Enforcement Response
to COVID–19 Pandemic.
DATES
: This rescission is applicable on
April 1, 2021.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
:
Mehul Madia, Division of Supervision,
Enforcement, and Fair Lending, at (202)
435–7104. If you require this document
in an alternative electronic format,
please contact CFPB_Accessibility@
cfpb.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
: On March
26, 2020, the Bureau issued a statement
entitled, ‘‘Statement on Bureau
Supervisory and Enforcement Response
to COVID–19 Pandemic’’ (Statement),
regarding the Bureau’s exercise of its
supervisory and enforcement discretion
during the pandemic.
1
Specifically, the
Statement provided that the Bureau
would take into account staffing and
related resource challenges confronting
financial institutions and their counsel
as they relate to supervisory activities
and enforcement actions. The Statement
also noted that when conducting
examinations and other supervisory
activities and in determining whether to
take enforcement action, the Bureau will
consider the circumstances that entities
may face as a result of the COVID–19
pandemic and will be sensitive to good-
faith efforts demonstrably designed to
assist consumers.
The Bureau hereby rescinds, as of
April 1, 2021, the Statement and
announces its intent to exercise its
supervisory and enforcement authority
consistent with the Dodd-Frank Act and
with the full authority afforded by
Congress consistent with the statutory
purpose and objectives of the Bureau.
The Statement expressed the Bureau’s
recognition of the impact of the COVID–
19 pandemic on the operations of many
financial institutions, including staffing
and related resource challenges
confronting financial institutions and
their counsel. The Bureau has
concluded that since release of this
statement such circumstances have
changed. Since March 2020 and over the
course of the COVID–19 pandemic,
financial institutions and other entities
that provide financial services and
products to consumers have adjusted
operations by, for example, shifting to a
remote mode of operation. As States and
other jurisdictions have rescinded and
modified stay-at-home orders over the
course of the pandemic, many financial
services entities have resumed some
level of in-person operations and, in
many instances combined with more
robust remote capabilities, have
demonstrated improved business
continuity.
With regard to the temporary
flexibility announced in the Statement,
the Bureau believes that companies
should have had sufficient time to adapt
to the pandemic and should now be able
adequately to comply with the law and
respond to enforcement actions or
supervisory activities without the
flexibility afforded under the statement.
In addition, because the Statement did
not create binding legal obligations on
the Bureau or create or confer any
substantive rights on external parties, it
did not create any reasonable reliance
interests for industry participants.
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17700
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 64 / Tuesday, April 6, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
2
Last year, the Bureau, along with the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve, the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit
Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency (the ‘‘Agencies’’) issued statements
entitled ‘‘Interagency Statement on Loan
Modifications and Reporting for Financial
Institutions Working with Customers Affected by
the Coronavirus’’ (April 7, 2020) (the ‘‘April 7
Interagency Statement’’), and ‘‘Interagency
Statement on Appraisals and Evaluations for Real
Estate Related Financial Transactions Affected by
the Coronavirus’’ (April 14, 2020) (the ‘‘April 14
Interagency Statement’’). Both statements provided
that the Agencies did not intend to take public
enforcement actions against entities in certain
instances. The April 7 Interagency Statement
focused on loan modifications and stated that the
agencies ‘‘do not expect to take a consumer
compliance public enforcement action against an
institution, provided that the circumstances were
related to the National Emergency and that the
institution made good faith efforts to support
borrowers and comply with the consumer
protection requirements, as well as responded to
any needed corrective action.’’ Under the April 14
Interagency Statement, the agencies, as defined in
that Statement, addressed flexibilities under certain
appraisal standards. To the extent that the Bureau
indicated flexibility, it now intends to exercise its
supervisory and enforcement authority consistent
with the Dodd-Frank Act and with the full authority
afforded by Congress. As detailed in the Statement
it is issuing today, the Bureau believes the
circumstances described in the April 7 Interagency
Statement and the April 14 Interagency Statement
have changed and that companies should have had
sufficient time to adapt. As such, the Bureau does
not intend to continue to provide any flexibilities
afforded entities in these specific sections of both
the April 7 Interagency Statement and the April 14
Interagency Statement.
3
See, e.g., CFPB Bulletin 2020–1, Responsible
Business Conduct: Self-Assessing, Self-Reporting,
Remediating, and Cooperating, available at https://
files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_
bulletin-2020-01_responsible-business-conduct.pdf.
Indeed, the Bureau never intended the
Statement to be permanent, and
accordingly expressly framed the
Statement as temporary relief.
The Bureau continues to encourage
institutions to meet the financial
services needs of their customers
affected by the COVID–19 pandemic.
The COVID–19 pandemic is a national
emergency that threatens the financial
well-being of millions of Americans,
with particularly dire effects to
communities of color. As the pandemic
continues to unfold, consumers are
facing economic hardship and
compliance with Federal consumer
financial law therefore is of paramount
importance. The Bureau’s statutory
purposes include ‘‘ensuring . . . that
markets for consumer financial products
and services are fair, transparent, and
competitive.’’ 12 U.S.C. 5511(a).
Declining to cite conduct consistent
with the full scope of the Bureau’s
supervision authority based on the
articulated principles in the Statement
may skew the consumer financial
marketplace, to the detriment of market
participants who comply with the law.
To fulfill its statutory mandate, the
Bureau has made it a priority to direct
its supervisory, enforcement, and other
tools to the prevention of harm to
consumers from unlawful acts, policies,
and practices. It is therefore of critical
importance that institutions adhere to
consumer protection requirements,
including fair lending laws, in their
interactions with consumers, and that
the Bureau use its supervisory and
enforcement tools to the full extent and
with the full flexibility afforded by
Congress.
The Bureau is therefore rescinding the
Statement, applicable as of April 1,
2021.
2
Instead, in its discretion, the
Bureau intends to exercise its
supervisory and enforcement authority
using a risk-based approach and
considering responsible business
conduct, consistent with the Dodd-
Frank Act and with the full authority
afforded by Congress consistent with the
statutory purpose and objectives of the
Bureau.
3
Regulatory Requirements
The Statement constituted a general
statement of policy exempt from the
notice and comment rulemaking
requirements of the Administrative
Procedure Act (APA). It was intended to
provide information regarding the
Bureau’s general plans to exercise its
supervisory and enforcement discretion
and did not impose any legal
requirements on external parties, nor
did it create or confer any substantive
rights on external parties that could be
enforceable in any administrative or
civil proceeding. This rescission
likewise is a general statement of policy
exempt from the notice and comment
rulemaking requirements of the APA. It
is intended to provide information
regarding the Bureau’s general plans to
exercise its supervision and
enforcement discretion and does not
impose any legal requirements on
external parties or create or confer any
substantive rights on external parties
that could be enforceable in any
administrative or civil proceedings. No
notice of proposed rulemaking was
originally required in issuing the
Statement and it is not required in
issuing this rescission. The Regulatory
Flexibility Act also does not require an
initial or final regulatory flexibility
analysis for this rescission. The Bureau
has also determined that the rescission
of the Statement does not impose any
new or revise any existing
recordkeeping, reporting, or disclosure
requirements on covered entities or
members of the public that would be
collections of information requiring
approval by the Office of Management
and Budget under the Paperwork
Reduction Act.
Dated: March 29, 2021.
David Uejio,
Acting Director, Bureau of Consumer
Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2021–06964 Filed 4–5–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 39
[Docket No. FAA–2020–0854; Project
Identifier MCAI–2020–01067–T; Amendment
39–21432; AD 2021–04–11]
RIN 2120–AA64
Airworthiness Directives; Airbus SAS
Airplanes
AGENCY
: Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), Department of
Transportation (DOT).
ACTION
: Final rule.
SUMMARY
: The FAA is superseding
Airworthiness Directive (AD) 2020–01–
10, which applied to certain Airbus SAS
Model A350–941 airplanes. AD 2020–
01–10 required installing flight control
and guidance system (FCGS) software
(SW) X11 Standard (STD). This AD
retains the requirements of AD 2020–
01–10, requires modifying the electrical
power supply of the air generation
system (AGS) ram air outlet door
actuators, and expands the applicability
by adding airplanes, as specified in a
European Union Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA) AD, which is incorporated by
reference. This AD was prompted by the
development of a modification that
forces the AGS ram air outlet doors to
be flush in cases of total engine
flameout or loss of the main electrical
supply. Because of this additional
modification, certain airplanes that were
excluded from the applicability of AD
2020–01–10 are included in the
applicability of this AD. The FAA is
issuing this AD to address the unsafe
condition on these products.
DATES
: This AD is effective May 11,
2021.
The Director of the Federal Register
approved the incorporation by reference
of a certain publication listed in this AD
as of May 11, 2021.
ADDRESSES
: For material incorporated
by reference (IBR) in this AD, contact
the EASA, Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 3,
50668 Cologne, Germany; telephone +49
221 8999 000; email ADs@
easa.europa.eu; internet
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