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A push by the nascent consumer bureau to make a small fix to the Dodd-Frank Act is drawing favorable reviews from the banking industry.
February 23 -
The House Financial Services Committee passed a bill to ensure that data given to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will remain confidential. The panel also voted to repeal a controversial section of Dodd-Frank that requires FDIC-insured institutions to spin off their swaps desks.
February 16 -
Democrats and Republicans said Wednesday they would support a bill to ensure that certain information shared with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during exams is protected by attorney-client privilege.
February 8 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has vowed to protect privileged information collected during the supervision process, but banks are nervous that might not be enough.
February 3
WASHINGTON — The House passed a bipartisan bill on Monday that would expand protections for privileged information that financial institutions share with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
"We have confirmed that the CFPB believes this fix to be acceptable," Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, said on the House floor Monday.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., would clarify that when financial institutions turn privileged information over to the bureau, it would not constitute a waiver of attorney-client privilege. Without a legislative fix, a bank could be subpoenaed and the information could be used against them in a lawsuit, the industry has argued.
CFPB Director Richard Cordray said last month that he would support a legislative fix of what he called an oversight in the Dodd-Frank Act. When a bank turns over privileged information to the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. or the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, it is not considered a waiver of privilege
"Although the bureau has said that they are prepared to take all reasonable and appropriate steps to protect proprietary information, we cannot be sure," Huizenga said.
The House passed the uncontroversial measure by a voice vote. It is expected to pass easily in the Senate, where Sens. Tim Johnson and Richard Shelby have introduced an identical measure.
