The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the federal government’s top consumer watchdog, announced Monday that it will create a registry to go after companies and individuals that repeatedly violate consumer protection laws.
The new rules, originally proposed in December 2022, would require non-bank companies that receive enforcement orders from local, state, or federal consumer protection courts or agencies to register with the CFPB and for senior company executives to certify that the company remains free of violations.
“Too often, financial institutions treat fines for illegal conduct as a cost of doing business,” CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. “The CFPB’s new rules will help law enforcement agencies across the country find and stop repeat offenders.”
CFPB officials said the register would publish information and orders issued after a government agency or court finds that a company or individual committed fraud or illegal conduct. The agency has not yet established an appeals or delisting process, as requested in comments to the original proposed rule.
CFPB (Canadian Consumer Price Index) Proposed the rule The final rules will take effect in December 2022, and CFPB officials told reporters Monday that the final rules include changes to reduce duplicate registrations, increase the exemption threshold to $5 million in sales and create an implementation timeline.
CFPB officials said the first wave of large non-bank companies will register by Jan. 14, 2025. Other supervised companies can register by April 14, 2025 and July 14, 2025.
Officials expect the public registry to be up and running sometime next year.
“This registration is part of the CFPB’s serious efforts to crack down on repeat offenders,” Chopra told reporters on Monday. “When companies believe they can make more money violating the law than following it, it completely erodes public trust and hurts companies that play by the rules.”
The Biden administration has announced a series of new rules aimed at empowering workers and consumers: The CFPB moved last month to classify “buy now, pay later” applications as credit card companies, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted in April to ban the use of non-compete agreements and invalidate most existing agreements.
The rules were enacted as President Biden prepares for a tough re-election battle against former President Trump, the Republican front-runner.
Many Americans feel negatively about the state of the economy, and perceptions of Biden’s economic policies have been a constant thorn in the campaign’s side: The economy and still-high inflation are top issues for voters, and a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found that more Americans trust Trump than Biden on those issues.
Updated 1:52 p.m.
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