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Open Recommendations (16 total)

Private Deposit Insurance: Credit Unions Largely Complied with Disclosure Rules, but Rules Should Be Clarified

GAO-17-259
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau To help state credit union supervisors and privately insured credit unions better interpret Regulation I and inform consumers when an institution is not federally insured, CFPB should issue guidance to describe what constitutes clear and conspicuous disclosure, including minimum signage dimensions and font size for disclosures.
Open
CFPB agreed with this recommendation. CFPB said it had explored options for addressing the recommendation and determined it would require notice-and-comment rulemaking. As of September 2023, CFPB had not added this item to its rulemaking program because the issues identified did not appear to CFPB to present significant risk of consumer harm and CFPB had seen no indication of consumer or industry concerns related to this issue.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau To help state credit union supervisors and privately insured credit unions better interpret Regulation I and inform consumers when an institution is not federally insured, CFPB should issue guidance to explain and provide examples of which communications are advertising.
Open
CFPB agreed with this recommendation. CFPB said it had explored options for addressing the recommendation and determined it would require notice-and-comment rulemaking. As of September 2023, CFPB had not added this item to its rulemaking program because the issues identified did not appear to CFPB to present significant risk of consumer harm and CFPB had seen no indication of consumer or industry concerns related to this issue.

Consumer Privacy: Better Disclosures Needed on Information Sharing by Banks and Credit Unions

GAO-21-36
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Director of CFPB, in consultation with the other federal financial regulators, should update the model privacy form and, in doing so, consider whether it is feasible to include more comprehensive information about third parties with whom financial institutions share consumer personal information. (Recommendation 1)
Open
CFPB said it is committed to ensuring that financial institutions' disclosures to consumers accomplish their consumer protection and transparency goals and that it will consider GAO's recommendation but has not yet taken any action on it. In May 2021, CFPB noted that any changes to the model privacy form would likely require a joint rulemaking with other agencies including FTC, SEC, and CFTC and such a rulemaking is not currently on its rulemaking agenda. In October 2022, CFPB initiated a rulemaking on personal financial data rights and comments closed in December 2023. While not directly related to the model privacy form, this rulemaking could impact how financial institutions provide information to consumers on data shared with third parties. As of March 2024, CFPB has not taken any actions to change the model privacy form. We will continue to monitor CFPB's rulemaking efforts related to consumer privacy.

Fair Lending: CFPB Needs to Assess the Impact of Recent Changes to Its Fair Lending Activities

GAO-21-393
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Director of CFPB should collect and analyze information on the outcomes of its 2018–2019 fair lending reorganization and use that assessment to address any challenges or unintended consequences resulting from the change. (Recommendation 1)
Open
CFPB agreed with this recommendation and has stated its commitment to assessing the effects of the 2019 reorganization. In December 2021, CFPB said it was assessing the impacts of the reorganization and would address challenges or unintended consequences that resulted from that change. In June 2023, a CPFB official said that CFPB was continuing work on this assessment. This recommendation remains open pending further progress from CFPB toward completing this assessment.

Financial Technology: Products Have Benefits and Risks to Underserved Consumers, and Regulatory Clarity Is Needed

GAO-23-105536
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should issue clarification on the application of the Truth in Lending Act's definition of "credit" for earned wage access products not covered by its November 2020 advisory opinion. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In May 2024, CFPB noted that it is monitoring the market for earned wage access products, and anticipated releasing additional guidance sometime in 2024. We will continue to monitor CFPB's actions in this area.

Blockchain in Finance: Legislative and Regulatory Actions Are Needed to Ensure Comprehensive Oversight of Crypto Assets

GAO-23-105346
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should jointly establish or adapt an existing formal coordination mechanism with CFTC, FDIC, the Federal Reserve, NCUA, OCC, and SEC for collectively identifying risks posed by blockchain-related products and services and formulating a timely regulatory response. To facilitate these objectives, this mechanism could include formal planning documents that establish the frequency of meetings and processes for identifying risks and responding to them within agreed-upon time frames. (Recommendation 1)
Open
CFPB neither agreed nor disagreed with the recommendation. In April 2024, several of the financial regulators told us that the Financial Stability Oversight Council (of which CFPB, CFTC, FDIC, the Federal Reserve, NCUA, OCC, and SEC are members) established a formal coordination mechanism through the creation of the Digital Asset Working Group to promote information sharing and enhance interagency coordination in identifying potential risks in the digital asset space. They stated that the working group meets regularly and has discussed a variety of topics, including regulatory developments, rulemaking, risks, data collection, and market developments. The establishment of the Digital Asset Working Group is a positive step towards implementing a formal coordination mechanism that can identify and address risks posed by blockchain-related products and services. To fully implement the recommendation, the agencies should develop planning documents for the working group. Such planning documents could include (1) objectives and meeting frequency; (2) processes for identifying the full range of risks and regulatory challenges concerning blockchain-related products and services (not only those related to financial stability); and (3) processes for responding to these risks and challenges within agreed-upon timeframes.

Private Student Loans: Clarification from CFPB Could Help Ensure More Consistent Opportunities and Treatment for Borrowers

GAO-19-430
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Director of CFPB should provide written clarification to nonbank private student loan lenders on their authorities under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to offer private student loan rehabilitation programs that include removing information from credit reports. (Recommendation 1)
Open
As of June 2023, CFBP does not plan to act on this recommendation because the law does not require nonbank private student loan lenders to seek CFPB's approval of student loan rehabilitation programs. CFPB stated that if a financial institution chooses to offer a private student loan rehabilitation program it would be protected under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Since issuance of our report in May 2019, CFPB was involved in a process led by the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) to revise credit reporting guidelines which included new standards for how lenders should report information on rehabilitated private student loans to credit reporting agencies. In June 2023, some nonbank private student loan lenders told us that, with the development of the new credit reporting guidance, they were comfortable they had authority to offer rehabilitation programs. However, clarification from CFPB could still help resolve any remaining uncertainties among nonbank private student loan lenders.

Financial Technology: Agencies Can Better Support Workforce Expertise and Measure the Performance of Innovation Offices

GAO-23-106168
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should fully incorporate leading workforce planning practices in the primary offices involved in policymaking and oversight related to financial technology by conducting strategic workforce planning that addresses financial technology; collecting staff skillset data and determining the critical financial technology skills the agency needs; developing targeted strategies to address financial technology-related skills gaps; and measuring the effectiveness of its financial technology-related training in addressing skill needs. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Consumer Data Protection: Actions Needed to Strengthen Oversight of Consumer Reporting Agencies

GAO-19-196
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Director of CFPB should assess whether its process for prioritizing CRA examinations sufficiently incorporates the data security risks CRAs pose to consumers, and take any needed steps identified by the assessment to more sufficiently incorporate these risks. (Recommendation 2)
Open
In July 2020, CFPB staff noted that they were assessing whether, and if so, how and when, to incorporate data security risks into their supervisory prioritization. As part of that evaluation, CFPB is assessing whether those processes should incorporate data security risks CRAs pose to consumers in light of the agency's statutory authorities, supervisory responsibilities, and resources. We have requested additional information from CFPB on their response to this recommendation, but as of September 2023, the agency has not provided us any new information. GAO will continue monitoring CFPB's assessment of prioritization of CRA data security risks.

Financial Technology: Agencies Can Better Support Workforce Expertise and Measure the Performance of Innovation Offices

GAO-23-106168
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should develop performance goals and measures for CFPB's Office of Competition and Innovation that cover key aspects of the office's activities, such as outreach to industry participants, and that are clear, targeted, and measureable. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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