BPI Files Comment Letter on Supervisory Guidance Proposal

BPI filed a comment letter Dec. 5 with the federal banking agencies, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and National Credit Union Administration expressing support for the core elements of a proposal to codify that supervisory guidance is nonbinding and cannot give rise to a Matter Requiring Attention (MRA) in the examination process. However, BPI requested that the regulators close carveouts in the proposal for “interpretive rules” that lack the force and effect of law, and that they clarify that an MRA cannot be based on vague notions of reputational risk without pointing to a specific practice or legal violation underpinning that risk. The proposal, which arose from BPI and the American Bankers Association’s 2018 petition for rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act, would codify the agencies’ 2018 Interagency Statement Clarifying the Role of Supervisory Guidance.