FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dec. 14, 2018

CONTACT: Carter Dougherty, carter@ourfinancialsecurity.org, (202) 251-6700

Extralegal ‘No-Action Letter’ Policy Would Exempt Industries From Basic Supervision And Enforcement

Statement From Linda Jun, policy counsel of Americans for Financial Reform:

In Mick Mulvaney’s final hours as acting director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed two policies that put consumers at gravely increased risk of the very harm the CFPB is supposed to prevent. The CFPB’s proposed drastic revision to its “no-action letter” policy and new “Product Sandbox” policy has the potential to exempt not only companies but entire industries from consumer protection laws and oversight. Instead of protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive and abusive practices, the CFPB’s proposals provide a pathway to guarantee companies and entire industries a sweeping safe harbor from liability and exemption from any supervision and enforcement by the CFPB. The CFPB’s proposals go far beyond its legal authority and grant broad exemptions from consumer protections without public input and without consideration of extreme potential harm they can cause to consumers.

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