The CFPB has announced that it will be holding a field hearing on auto finance on September 18 in Indianapolis. The announcement indicates that the hearing will feature remarks from Director Richard Cordray, as well as “testimony” from consumer groups, industry representatives, and members of the public.

Given the CFPB’s history of using field hearings as the venue for announcing a related development, it seems highly likely that the field hearing will coincide with the CFPB’s release of a proposed larger participant rule for the auto finance market. The CFPB officially confirmed its plans to issue such a rule in the semi-annual update of its rulemaking agenda issued this past May and gave an August 2014 timetable for the proposal. That confirmation followed statements made by CFPB Deputy Director Steven Antonakes at a Consumer Bankers Association meeting in April 2014 that the CFPB’s next larger participant rule would relate to auto finance.