The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s civil investigative demand (“CID”) authority has recently presented significant compliance difficulties for companies that have received requests for information relating to an investigation commenced by the CFPB. Among other things, this Alert points out procedural hurdles that CIDs present to targeted companies, and provides suggestions for companies and persons when responding to a CID.

Except for those few instances in which civil investigative demands have been issued by the Federal Trade Commission to investigate violations of federal law under its jurisdiction, financial service companies have very infrequently encountered CIDs. Among other things, this was because the predominant form of direct federal oversight was exercised by the federal banking agencies that possessed direct examination and supervision authority over FDIC-insured institutions and affiliated companies, which permitted the banking agencies to examine practically all books and records of a company without the need to issue a CID.