CFPB Updates Policy Regarding Civil Investigative Demands

On April 23, 2019, the CFPB announced updates to its policy on Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs).  Going forward, CIDs will (i) “provide more information about the potentially applicable provisions of law that may have been violated;” (ii) “specify the business activities subject to the Bureau’s authority;” and (iii) “in investigations where determining the extent of the Bureau’s authority over the relevant activity is one of the significant purposes of the investigation, staff may specifically include that issue in the CID in the interests of further transparency.” 

According to the CFPB, the new policy takes into account recent court decisions about notifications of purpose, and is consistent with a 2017 CFPB OIG report that emphasized the importance of updating Office of Enforcement policies to reflect the recent decisions.  Also, the new policy is consistent with comments received in response to a 2018 Request for Information, which solicited public feedback about “various aspects of its operations, including its use of CIDs in enforcement investigations.”  WBK covered the 2018 Request for Information in an update here.