Departing from its past practice, the CFPB has announced that it will hold a field hearing in Wilmington, Delaware on November 13 but has not yet disclosed what the hearing will be about. Instead, the announcement says only that “[m]ore information about the event will follow.” It also contains the standard statement that the event will feature remarks from Director Cordray, as well as testimony from consumer groups, industry representatives, and members of the public.

Since the CFPB typically uses field hearings as a backdrop for announcing new developments, we think the November 13 field hearing is likely to coincide with the CFPB’s release of a proposed rule for prepaid cards. In his June 2014 appearance before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Director Cordray stated that the proposal would likely be issued at the end of the summer. However, a recent Bloomberg article by Carter Dougherty and Jesse Hamilton suggested a November release date for the proposal.