The CFPB has adopted changes to its “Policy on Ex Parte Presentations in Rulemaking Proceedings,” which generally requires anyone who communicates with the CFPB about a pending rulemaking to submit a written copy of the presentation (or a summary of an oral presentation) to the CFPB and public rulemaking docket within a specified period after the communication to the CFPB.

In addition to various non-substantive changes, the updated policy makes the following substantive changes:

• As originally adopted, the policy required copies or summaries of presentations to be submitted to the CFPB within three business days of the presentation.  The CFPB has changed the policy to extend that period to ten business days.  In addition, the policy had directed persons submitting ex parte presentation materials to also file them directly with the public rulemaking docket at www.regulations.gov.  The updated policy only requires the materials to be submitted electronically to the CFPB, which will post them on the public rulemaking docket.
• The updated policy creates an exemption from its requirements for ex parte presentations “by State attorneys general or their equivalents, State bank regulatory authorities, or State agencies that license, supervise, or examine the offering of consumer financial products or services, including their offices or staff, when acting in their official capacities.”  For purposes of the policy, “State” means “any State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or possession of the United States or any federally recognized Indian tribe.”  According to the CFPB, it created the exemption because, in its experience, “communications from these entities have at times been sensitive, and the CFPB believes that these entities are likely to provide more frank and robust feedback if communications are not subject to the disclosure requirements of the Policy.”