The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a cost estimate for H.R. 4662, entitled the “Bureau Advisory Opinion Act.” This was part of series of bills reported in June 2014 by the House Committee on Financial Services that were intended to promote greater transparency and accountability at the CFPB.
H.R. 4662 would require the CFPB to establish procedures for issuing advisory opinions in consultation with other federal regulators and after allowing for a public notice and comment period. The bill would also require the CFPB to issue an advisory opinion within 90 days of receiving a request, create a rebuttable presumption in an action brought under a federal consumer financial law that conduct in conformity with an advisory opinion complied with such law, and require the CFPB to make advisory opinions available on its website with information redacted that is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
The CBO estimates that H.R. 3662 would increase direct spending by the CFPB over 2015-2024 by $815 million.
