WASHINGTON– The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued its final Advisory Opinions Policy as part of an effort to publicly address what it said is “regulatory uncertainty” in its existing regulations and to provide guidance to entities on outstanding regulatory uncertainty.
According to the CFPB, under the final Policy entities seeking to comply with regulatory requirements can submit a request to the Bureau “where uncertainty exists. Regulatory certainty promotes compliance if the law applies and avoids unnecessary compliance costs if the law does not,” the CFPB said.
Under the final Policy, any person or entity can submit a request for an advisory opinion via email to advisoryopinion@cfpb.gov.
The Bureau said it will review the submissions received, prioritize certain requests for response, and issue opinions with a description of the incoming request. The Bureau further said it may also decide to issue advisory opinions on its own initiative.
The CFPB said it will publish all advisory opinions in the Federal Register and on its website here.
“As explained in the final Policy, when selecting requests for consideration, the Bureau will prioritize open questions within the Bureau’s purview that can legally be addressed through an interpretive rule,” the CFPB said. “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.”
Advisory Opinions
The CFPB has also issued two advisory opinions.
In the first, the Bureau issued an advisory opinion regarding earned wage access (EWA) products, which it said have recently emerged in the marketplace as an “innovative way for employees to meet short-term liquidity needs that arise between paychecks without individuals having to turn to other higher cost products.”
The Bureau reported it had been asked whether EWA providers are offering or extending credit within the scope of Regulation Z. The advisory opinion aims to resolve regulatory uncertainty regarding the applicability of the definition of credit under Regulation Z and encourage further innovation in the EWA space.
In the second, the Bureau issued an advisory opinion to clarify that certain education loan products that refinance or consolidate a consumer’s pre-existing federal, or federal and private, education loans meet the definition of “private education loan” in Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z and are subject to the disclosure and other requirements in subpart F of Regulation Z.
“Lender compliance with these requirements will enhance the protection of borrowers who have taken out private educational loans,” the CFPB said.