Blog Post

Small Business Lending Rule Delayed Again

Michael Christians • June 18, 2025

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published an interim final rule extending the mandatory compliance dates once again for its small business lending data collection rule under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The new mandatory compliance dates are as follows:

Tier One Lenders (those that originated at least 2,500 covered credit transactions in both years of their determination period)
July 1, 2026
Tier Two Lenders (those that originated between 500 and 2,499 covered credit transactions in both years of their determination period)
January 1, 2027
Tier Three Lenders (those that originated between 100 and 499 covered credit transactions in both years of their determination period)
October 1, 2027

The interim final rule also clarifies that a covered financial institution may use any of the following combinations for its determination period - 2022 and 2023, 2023 and 2024, or 2024 and 2025.

The CFPB indicates that it plans to use this additional time to initiate a new Section 1071 rulemaking. The notice of proposed rulemaking, which we anticipate will make significant changes to the current small business lending data collection framework, will be issued as expeditiously as possible according to the agency.

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Section 1033 Open Banking Rule Likely to be Struck Down by Month's End

By Michael Christians • May 27, 2025

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By Michael Christians • May 15, 2025

On May 15, 2025, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published notice in the Federal Register that it is withdrawing three proposals introduced under the previous administration. First, the CFPB is withdrawing a proposed interpretive rule regarding applicability of the Electronic Fund Transfers Act to emerging payment mechanisms. Under the January 2025 proposal, a stablecoin, bitcoin, or other cryptocurrency transaction conducted in connection with a consumer asset account would be considered an electronic fund transfer subject to Regulation E’s requirements. Next, the CFPB is withdrawing a proposed rule that would have banned unfair provisions in credit contracts and specifically prohibited certain terms and conditions. Under the January 2025 proposal, a credit contract could not contain provisions such as a confession of judgment or waiver of exemption. In addition, a covered financial institution would not be able to enforce any term or condition that permits it to unilaterally amend a contract or restrain expression. Finally, the CFPB is withdrawing its proposed rule concerning harmful data broker practices. The proposal, issued in December 2024, would have treated data brokers as consumer reporting agencies, required a permissible purpose to obtain credit header data (e.g., name, address, date of birth, and social security number of a consumer) from a consumer reporting agency, and emphasized that marketing is not a permissible purpose to obtain a credit report under the FCRA. On May 9, 2025, the White House announced that President Trump is nominating Jonathan McKernan as Undersecretary of Treasury for Domestic Policy. It was later confirmed that as a result, Mr. McKernan’s previous nomination to head the CFBP is being withdrawn. Russell Vought, the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, is currently serving as acting director of the Bureau. He may continue to do so for an additional 210 days under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. The White House has yet to announce a new nominee for CFPB director.

CFPB Withdraws 67 Previously Issued Guidance Documents

By Michael Christians • May 12, 2025

On May 12th, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published notice in the Federal Register that it is withdrawing dozens of interpretive rules, policy statements, and advisory opinions, dating as far back as 2011. The Bureau is withdrawing its guidance in light of the President’s directive to deregulate and streamline bureaucracy. In the future, the agency intends to only issue guidance when absolutely necessary, and only to reduce compliance burden. While the amount of guidance being withdrawn by the Bureau is too voluminous to fully detail here, below is a flavor of the agency's previous interpretations that no longer carry any precedential value: Policy Statements (8 withdrawn in total) Statement of Policy Regarding Prohibition on Abusive Acts or Practices – issued in April 2023, this statement provided an analytical framework of what constitutes an abusive act and/or practice Interpretive Rules (7 withdrawn in total) ECOA (Regulation B); Discrimination on the Bases of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity – issued in March 2021, this interpretive rule expanded Regulation B’s prohibition against sex discrimination to include both sexual orientation and gender identity Advisory Opinions (13 withdrawn in total) Circulars (16 withdrawn in total) Reopening Deposit Accounts that Consumers Previously Closed – issued in May 20243, this circular indicated that it is likely an unfair act and/or practice to unilaterally reopen a deposit account that was previously closed by the consumer Bulletins (23 withdrawn in total) Prohibition of Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices in the Collection of Consumer Debts – issued in July 2013, this bulletin outlined several debt collection practices that the agency would consider to be unfair, deceptive, and/or abusive

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