Advisory Opinion Program

The CFPB released its first two Advisory Opinion Letters under its Advisory Opinion Program.  The Advisory Opinion Program provides a mechanism through which the Bureau can more effectively carry out its statutory purposes and objectives by better enabling compliance in the face of regulatory and statutory uncertainty. Parties may submit requests for advisory opinions regarding any issue under the Bureau’s purview that can be resolved through an interpretive rule.

The first Advisory Opinion Letter addresses Earned Wage Access and whether the access falls under Regulation Z.  The Letter was issued to resolve regulatory uncertainty regarding the applicability of the definition of credit under Regulation z to certain earned wage access programs.

The second Advisory Opinion Letter clarifies that certain educational loan products that refinance or consolidate a consumers preexisting federal and private education loans meet the definition of “private education loan” in Regulation Z and are subject to the disclosure and other requirements in Subpart F of Regulation Z.

More information on the Bureau’s Advisory Opinion Program and the two Advisory Opinion Letters can be found on the CFPB’s Advisory Opinion Program web page.

 

Please be advised that CSG provides financial services compliance audit and consulting services to our clients.  The services that we provide include certain tasks that may be characterized as “law-related services” under Rule 5.7 of the Rules of Professional Conduct governing lawyers.  Since some of our employees are lawyers with an active bar license but are NOT engaged in the private practice of law, that Rule requires us to make disclosures clarifying that the services we perform may be law-related services, but they are not legal services.  Because they are not legal services, those services and our relationship will not be governed by the Rules of Professional Conduct that guide the client-lawyer relationship, such as rules applicable to privileged communications and prohibitions of conflicts of interest.  Notwithstanding this disclaimer, we will continue to govern our relationship with you using reasonable ethical and professional standards that are expected to meet your expectations.

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