LAS VEGAS – The Federal Register will include the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau’s proposed “Larger Participant” rule starting Wednesday, a CFPB spokesman told Auto Finance News on Tuesday. The publication kicks off a sixty-day comment period that will expand the CFPB’s expanded oversight of nonbank lenders, including the auto manufacturer captives.
As it stands, the proposed rules would allow the CFPB to take a closer look at between 86% and 93% of the industry. Its supervisory oversight would extend to nonbank auto lenders that make more than 10,000 loans per year to determine whether discrimination problems may exist in that part of the industry. Nonprime and subprime lenders would also likely fall under the CFPB’s supervision, a point that was noted more than once at Wednesday’s Auto Finance Summit in Las Vegas.
The new rule is available for public inspection at the Federal Register’s website now.
During sessions and conversations at AFS 2014 this week, legal experts encouraged industry players to take advantage of the comment period. They said “Now is the time,” for constructive critiques or suggestions in how to best implement the rule’s expansion. Lenders should not be afraid to comment — quite the contrary. Commenting helps the bureau learn, the lawyers said.
