CFPB Requests Authority to Supervise Compliance with Military Lending Act

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger transmitted a legislative proposal to Congress last week which would give the CFPB authority to conduct supervisory examinations for compliance with the Military Lending Act (MLA).

“The Bureau is committed to the financial well-being of America’s service members. This commitment includes ensuring that lenders subject to our jurisdiction comply with the Military Lending Act so our service members and their families are provided with the protections of that law,” Kraninger said. “That’s why I have asked Congress to explicitly grant the Bureau authority to conduct examinations specifically intended to review compliance with the MLA.”

Former Acting Director of the CFPB, Mick Mulvaney, had discontinued all examinations for MLA compliance last fall. He justified the plan by explaining that the Dodd-Frank Act did not give the CFPB the authority to conduct MLA investigations. The reported discontinuation was met with strong criticism from lawmakers.

The CFPB’s legislative proposal would amend the Dodd-Frank Act and provide supervisory authority to the CFPB for MLA compliance as well as non-banks and banks with more than $10 billion in total assets.