Things are changing for consumer lending compliance officers. A CFPB News Release on May 19th highlights a concerted effort amongst federal and state regulators to sharpen collaborative efforts to monitor consumer lending practices.
Prior emphasis on consumer lending, including the passing of the Consumer Financial Protection Act in 2010, was a direct result of the Great Recession and the government’s efforts to prevent future devastation. Now, after four years of relaxed regulatory oversight, it’s time for organizations to dust off and revisit compliance and regulatory obligations.
So what’s happening? And what do you need to know?
The May release from the CFPB highlights that while states have always had authority to enforce their own laws, they are also empowered to enforce consumer protection regulations as issued by the CFPB. Encouraging this state-level collaboration validates the scrutiny regulators will be giving to consumer lending practices this year.
Compliance teams already task-saturated and understaffed will continue to feel pressure as organizations face growing scrutiny. While consumer mortgage lending and student loan practices have been on the CFPB’s radar for some time, they have now invited state regulators to join them in scrutinizing consumer lending of all types. Providing compliance teams with tools to ensure your institution is identifying its obligations is the first step in a robust compliance program that also will contribute to operational efficiencies and smart innovation.
And while these are changes your organization will have to address, it doesn’t have to be a huge overhaul.
While some tools solve for one challenge at a time, leaving gaps in the system, solutions like Ascent can slide into a compliance team’s toolkit and immediately reduce time spent on operational tasks, increase accuracy, and empower compliance leaders to make decisions with confidence and precision.
Get in touch to learn more about how Ascent can help your compliance team succeed today.
