Regulatory guidance

Todd Zywicki, a law professor who has sharply criticized the CFPB as an unaccountable bureaucracy, has been named chair of an agency task force identifying potential conflicts and inconsistencies in consumer finance law.

The two Democratic senators said the bureau's policy could allow companies to circumvent consumer finance laws.

A report from the Financial Stability Oversight Council cited a bigger share of originations and servicing by nonbanks as a potential vulnerability in the financial system.

The agency announced the series in April as an effort to encourage public dialogue on policy issues.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received over a quarter-million complaints in 2018, according to analysis by an advocacy group that urged the agency to maintain public access to its database.

The Structured Finance Industry Group wants Treasury and the IRS to issue a notice that a change from Libor to an alternative index would not be treated as a taxable exchange.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's practice of "regulation by enforcement" and use of nonbinding guidance materials makes its regulatory efforts "unfair and ineffective" to lenders and servicers, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The legislation would prohibit the CFPB from penalizing institutions that rely in good faith on guidance from the bureau.

As the Senate closes in on overturning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's 2013 indirect auto loan rule, a central question is how lasting the congressional measure will be in limiting the CFPB's authority.

Sixty-four consumer groups are speaking out against a Senate measure, expected to be voted on this week, that would overturn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's 2013 regulation on discriminatory pricing by auto lenders.