While the acting chief of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says the regulator will fulfill its statutory responsibilities, it won’t go any further than that.
On Monday, a five-year strategic plan was released by the bureau. The plan
establishes the CFPB’s mission, strategic goals and strategic objectives.
The plan is required by the Government Performance and Results Act and the GPRA Modernization Act. The last submission was in April 2013.
Yesterday’s plan was a revision to an October 2017 draft.
According to the regulator, the plan draws directly from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. But it refocuses the CFPB’s mission on regulating consumer financial products or services under existing federal consumer financial laws. It promises to enforce those laws judiciously while educating and empowering consumers to make better informed decisions.
Changes from the previous five-year plan include protecting legal rights of both consumers and regulated entities. Another variance is using the rule-making
process to address unwarranted regulatory burdens. In addition, it promises to operate more efficiently, effectively and transparently.
“If there is one way to summarize the strategic changes occurring at the bureau, it is this: we have committed to fulfill the bureau’s statutory responsibilities, but go no further,” Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney said in the presentation. “By hewing to the statute, this strategic plan provides the bureau a ready road map, a touchstone with a fixed meaning that should serve as a bulwark against the misuse of our unparalleled powers.”
Goals outlined in the plan include ensuring consumers access to markets for financial products, enforcing law consistently and
providing efficient and effective processes, governance and security.
The CFPB wants to know when regulations are outdated, unnecessary or overly burdensome.
It also wants an efficient, transparent, and inclusive approach to developing or revising regulations.
