CFPB Issues Request for Information Regarding Civil Investigative Demands

The CFPB recently announced that in this coming year it plans to publish in the Federal Register a series of Requests for Information (RFIs) seeking comment on its enforcement, supervisory, rulemaking, market monitoring, and educational activities.  The first RFI issued in this series seeks feedback from the public on the CFPB’s processes and procedures related to Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs), which are issued in accordance with the CFPB’s enforcement responsibilities.

The RFI seeks feedback on “all aspects” of the CID process, but specifically requests comment on eleven questions representing a “preliminary attempt” by the CFPB to identify elements of the CID process on which it should “immediately focus.”  The CFPB’s specific questions regarding CIDs include:

• The CFPB’s process for initiating investigations;
• The CFPB’s process for the issuance of CIDs;
• Specific steps that the CFPB could take to improve CID recipients’ understanding of investigations;
• The nature and scope of requests included in the CFPB CIDs;
• The timeframes associated with each step of the CFPB CID process;
• The CFPB’s taking of testimony from an entity;
• The CFPB’s process for handling the inadvertent production of privileged information;
• The rights afforded to witnesses, including the right to have counsel;
• The CFPB’s process concerning meeting and conferring with recipients of CIDs;
• The CFPB’s requirements for responding to CIDs, including certification requirements and document submission standards; and
• The CFPB’s process concerning CID recipients’ petitions to modify or set aside CFPB CIDs.

The RFI was published in the Federal Register on January 26, 2018, and comments are due by March 27, 2018.

The RFI regarding CIDs is available here: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-01-26/pdf/2018-01435.pdf.