FEDERAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
CFPB’s 1071 final rule expected soon
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final rule to implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act could be released any day now. A recent CFPB filing shows the rule is now with the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which means its release is expected soon.
Section 1071 requires lenders to collect and report data on credit applicants, including the race, sex and ethnicity of the principal owners as well as gross annual revenue.
In 2025, the CFPB proposed a new rule to implement Section 1071 that would exempt all banks that made fewer than 1,000 loans to businesses with less than $1 million in gross annual revenue in each of the previous two calendar years.
Agencies finalize changes to community bank leverage ratio
Federal banking agencies finalized interagency rulemaking to expand the eligibility criteria for the community bank leverage ratio, adopting changes first proposed last year without further revisions.
House Republicans unveil data privacy bills
House Republicans unveiled two bills to establish national data privacy standards, including legislation to modernize the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which is the federal law regulating how banks and other financial institutions safeguard customer data.
HUD, FHFA roll out plans for new credit scoring in mortgages
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will adopt FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 for FHA loans. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will begin using VantageScore 4.0 immediately and the future use of FICO Score 10T credit scores for loans delivered to Fannie Mae.
CFPB finalizes rule to revise fair lending enforcement
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule Wednesday to remove disparate impact from enforcement of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, clarify the prohibition on discouraging prospective applicants and establish new limits on special-purpose credit programs offered by lenders.
House advances industry-backed bill to ease Section 1071 reporting burden
The House Financial Services Committee voted 26-22 to advance legislation to exempt certain lenders from small-business lending data reporting requirements.
FHLBs propose allowing letters of credit for discount window advances
Federal Home Loan Bank members should be allowed to use short-term FHLB letters of credit to secure advances through the Federal Reserve’s discount window, the Council of FHLBs suggested in a recent letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.
Banking agencies issue revised risk management model guidance
The federal banking agencies rescinded existing risk management model guidance and replaced it with revised principles that they said better account for a financial institution’s size and complexity.