Five federal supervisory agencies today released a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that clarifies how the agencies will coordinate their supervisory activities, consistent with the Dodd-Frank Act.
According to the agencies, the MOU is intended to establish arrangements for coordination and cooperation between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the prudential regulators – the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the National Credit Union Administration and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – to minimize unnecessary regulatory burden, avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, and decrease the risk of conflicting supervisory directives. Under the MOU, the agencies will coordinate examinations and other supervisory activities and share certain material supervisory information concerning compliance issues and consumer-related activities including underwriting, sales, marketing, servicing and collections.
Section 1025 of the Dodd-Frank Act requires that the CFPB and the prudential regulators coordinate important aspects of their supervision of insured depository institutions with more than $10 billion in assets and their affiliates. Such coordination includes scheduling examinations, conducting simultaneous examinations of covered depository institutions unless an institution requests separate examinations, and sharing draft reports of examinationS for comment.