Banking and Financial Services: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Issues Interim Rule on Investigations

On July 22, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)) issued an interim rule, with request for public comment, setting forth its rules relating to investigations. These rules are to govern investigations undertaken pursuant to section 1052 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5562), which authorizes the CFPB to investigate whether persons have engaged in conduct that violates any provision of Federal consumer financial law. In the notice, the CFPB stated that "[i]n light of the similarities between section 1052 of the Act and section 20 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”), 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq., the Bureau drew most heavily from the FTC’s nonadjudicative procedures in constructing the Rules."
As the notice explains, "The Rules describe a number of Bureau policies and procedures that apply in a nonadjudicative setting. Among other things, these Rules set forth (1) the Bureau’s authority to conduct investigations, and (2) the rights of persons from whom the Bureau seeks to compel information in investigations. In particular, the Rules lay out the Bureau’s authority to conduct investigations before instituting judicial or administrative adjudicatory proceedings under Federal consumer financial law," as well as "the rights of persons from whom the Bureau seeks to compel information in an investigation."