On January 26, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or “Bureau”) published a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register regarding the Bureau’s Civil Investigative Demand (CID) processes. According to the Bureau’s related press release, the RFI is the first part of Acting Director Mick Mulvaney’s “call for evidence” about the Bureau’s functions, about which we previously reported. As presaged in the Bureau’s press release, the RFI is designed to “ensure the Bureau is fulfilling its proper and appropriate functions to best protect consumers” and to facilitate updating, streamlining, and revising agency processes “to better achieve the Bureau’s statutory and regulatory objectives.” The comment period extends until March 27, 2018.

This initial RFI tackles perhaps the most controversial of the CFPB’s functions: enforcement. As is the case for a number of federal agencies with enforcement authority, the CFPB commonly uses the CID process to initiate enforcement proceedings. The CID process has been the principal, but not the only, means for the CFPB to conduct wide-ranging discovery into the activities of target companies. In fact, over the years, the Bureau’s Enforcement Division has issued dozens of CIDs to industry parties. Now is the time for participants in the consumer financial services markets to consider submitting thoughtful, yet practical, observations on the workings of the CFPB CID process to date. This Alert identifies potential points of interest for financial institutions and other financial services companies, and offers a number of practical takeaways.