On February 11, the Bank Policy Institute submitted a comment letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) in response to the agency’s request for comments on its December 2018 proposed No Action Letter (“NAL”) and Product Sandbox policy. The letter recommends four key changes to the proposal that would help improve legal certainty for institutions applying for a determination from the CFPB and would result in banks testing more innovative products and services. The letter recommends:
- The CFPB take affirmative and concrete steps to coordinate its determinations with federal and state regulators.
- The creation of a separate legal opinion process that includes the rationale for substantive analysis of the NAL determination to offer additional clarity to firms engaged in similar marketplace activities.
- The CFPB provide clear guideposts for the conditions for and requisite compliance needed to ensure NAL and Product Sandbox determination.
- Harmonization of the revocation procedures between the NAL and the Product Sandbox processes.
