BCFP Seeks Clear Authority to Supervise Compliance with Military Lending Act

On January 17, 2019, the BCFP sent a legislative proposal to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate that would clarify the BCFP’s authority to supervise for compliance with the Military Lending Act (MLA).

The proposal would amend sections 1024 and 1025 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (CFPA) – which generally establish the BCFP’s authority over non-banks and banks with total assets of more than $10 billion, respectively – by adding language to each section stating that the BCFP has nonexclusive authority to require reports and conduct examinations on a periodic basis to:

• assess compliance with the MLA;
• obtain information about activities and compliance systems or procedures; and
• detect and assess risks to consumers and to markets for consumer financial products and services.

The proposal would also amend section 1026 of the CFPA to provide that, for banks with total assets of $10 billion or less, the BCFP can:

• include its examiners in examinations by a bank’s prudential regulator to assess compliance with the MLA; and
• notify a bank’s prudential regulator, and recommend appropriate action, when it has reason to believe the bank has engaged in a material violation of the MLA.