The CFPB has agreed to a March 31, 2023 deadline for issuing a final rule implementing the small business data requirements of Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Section 1071 amended the ECOA, subject to rules adopted by the Bureau, to require financial institutions to collect and report certain data in connection with credit applications made by small businesses, including women- or minority-owned small businesses. The Bureau issued a NPRM in August 2021 and the comment period ended on January 6, 2022.

The Bureau agreed to the deadline in a stipulation with the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in a California federal district court to force the Bureau to move forward on Section 1071 rulemaking. The stipulation is consistent with the Stipulated Settlement Agreement that the parties entered into February 2020 to resolve the lawsuit. The settlement agreement provides that after issuance of the NPRM, the CFPB will meet and confer with plaintiffs regarding an “appropriate deadline” for issuance of a final rule.

Yesterday, the court entered an order approving the stipulation. The order provides that “[b]arring an extension of the deadline consistent with the Agreement or further order of the Court, Defendants shall issue a Final Rule for the Section 1071 Implementing Regulations by March 31, 2023.”

The deadline is consistent with the timing for a Section 1071 final rule set forth in the CFPB’s Spring 2022 rulemaking agenda. In the agenda, the Bureau estimated issuance of a final rule in March 2023.

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