[co-authors: Amelie Hopkins, and Collin Grier]

The year 2021 started with the hope of COVID-19 vaccines and a return to (relative) normalcy, only to conclude with new variants that presented new challenges and extended others longer than anticipated. Despite the persistence of the pandemic, in 2021 the consumer financial services regulatory landscape began to return to pre-pandemic norms.

Most notably, throughout 2021 regulators rescinded flexibilities previously offered to companies in the wake of the pandemic and indicated their intent to strictly supervise and enforce companies’ efforts to apply COVID-19-related programs and initiatives. For its part, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or “the Bureau”) formally rescinded seven policy statements issued in 2020 that had signaled substantial flexibility in legal compliance during the early weeks and months of the pandemic. The CFPB’s rescission of the former administration’s policies effectively revived enforcement of regulations that had been relaxed or suspended in an effort to allow industry participants leeway in assisting consumers through the pandemic. In announcing the CFPB’s new approach, then-Acting Director Dave Uejio emphasized industry’s and the bureau’s need to focus on the pandemic’s impact to consumers, noting that “[p]roviding regulatory flexibility to companies should not come at the expense of consumers.” While Acting Director Uejio acknowledged that the pandemic also affected the industry, the CFPB expressed the view that the financial services sector’s demonstrated ability to adapt to post-pandemic realities meant it was “no longer prudent to maintain these flexibilities.” Thus, going forward, the CFPB indicated its intent to return supervisory and enforcement efforts to pre-pandemic levels, and stated that it would again exercise its authority to the full extent provided under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.