On February 3, a trade association representing the financial services industry sent a letter to new CFPB leadership commending it for the agency-wide pause of all rulemaking, litigation and other activities and suggesting a list of reforms to the Bureau.

In summary, the trade association recommended the Bureau cease “rulemaking via guidance” — citing various policy statements, blog posts, interpretive rules and amicus briefs that purport to clarify the agency’s positions — and instead take the following approaches: (i) adopt policies and procedures to ensure that rulemaking is done in compliance with the APA; (ii) pause all open rulemakings and review them in light of the current administration’s priorities; (iii) rescind or revise certain recent rulemakings including the credit card late fee rule and the nonbank registry for enforcement actions; (iv) halt “risk-based” supervision and make other structural changes to the supervisory function; (v) pause all current enforcement actions pending review by new leadership; and (vi) institute procedural rules that limit enforcement actions to violations of law and regulations issued in accordance with the APA, not based on violations of CFPB guidance.

Visit our resource center, CFPB Pause: Where From Here?, to stay on top of the latest and what it may mean for the federal and state regulatory and enforcement landscape.