CFPB Dual Mandate and Economic Analysis Act
H.R. 2183, the CFPB Dual Mandate and Economic Analysis Act, would revise the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 in two main ways. First, it changes the Bureau’s purpose from “fair, transparent, and competitive” to “fair and transparent,” and adds an explicit objective to strengthen private sector participation in markets to increase competition and consumer choice, so long as there is no government interference or subsidies. This signals an emphasis on promoting market participation and competition alongside consumer protection. Second, the bill creates an Office of Economic Analysis within the CFPB. This office would systematically review proposed guidance, orders, rules, and regulations to assess their impact on consumer choice, price, and access to credit, and it would measure and report on existing rules at 1-, 2-, 5-, and 10-year intervals. Rulemaking would require considering these reviews, and proposed rules would need to identify the problem they address and the metrics by which success will be judged, including effects on consumer access and cost of financial products and services. Overall, the bill would introduce a formal, data-driven framework to evaluate regulatory impact on markets and consumers before and after rules are issued.
Key Points
- 1Purpose update: Strikes “competitive” from the CFPB’s mandate and adds a goal to strengthen private sector participation in markets to boost competition and consumer choice, while avoiding government interference or subsidies.
- 2Office of Economic Analysis: Establishes a new office within the CFPB to review all proposed guidance, orders, rules, and regulations for their impact on consumer choice, price, and access to credit; requires these reviews to be published in the Federal Register.
- 3Rulemaking integration: Before issuing any guidance, order, rule, or regulation, the Director must consider the Office of Economic Analysis’ review and may need to explain disagreements with the review.
- 4Metrics and evaluation: For each proposed rule, the Director must identify the problem being addressed and specify metrics to judge success, including changes in consumer access to and the cost of financial products and services; existing rules must be reviewed at 1, 2, 5, and 10 years with published results.
- 5Transparency requirements: Reviews and measurement results must be published in the Federal Register, ensuring public visibility of findings and proposed adjustments.