CFPB Claims Oversight Over More Entities Including Fintechs; Says it Will Publish Supervisory Determinations

On April 25, 2022, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that it plans to use its supervisory authority to examine any nonbank financial company that poses a risk to consumers, and it plans to make the results public. 

The CFPB will determine if a company poses a risk to consumers by looking at CFPB complaints, judicial opinions, administrative decisions, whistleblower complaints, state partners, federal partners, or news reports. Though not defined, "risky conduct" may include unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices or other acts or practices that potentially violate federal consumer financial law.

CFPB Director Rohit Chopra had this to say: “Given the rapid growth of consumer offerings by nonbanks, the CFPB is now utilizing a dormant authority to hold nonbanks to the same standards that banks are held to. This authority gives us critical agility to move as quickly as the market, allowing us to conduct examinations of financial companies posing risks to consumers and stop harm before it spreads.”