BY, Gina Ellis
In our blog, Compliance Conundrums, January 18, 2016, we reported regulations had not been issued in support an exemption of the annual privacy notice requirements. However, on Friday, July 1, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finally issued a proposed amendment to Regulation P which will conform the privacy regulations to legislation passed by Congress in December 2015.
While the law was effective as of the date signed, some institutions may have decided to wait until the regulation was amended before eliminating the annual mailing. This proposal has a 30 day comment period, but it is expected that the final rule will be effective soon. So if you did decide to continue mailing annual privacy notices, this may finally be the last year to do so.
As you recall, the law indicated an institution that has not changed its sharing practices since it last provided a privacy notice and only shares nonpublic personal information with nonaffiliated third parties in a manner that does not require an opt-out, would be exempt from providing any annual privacy notice. These proposed revisions to Regulation P will now reflect those changes and officially eliminate annual mailings for the majority of institutions. The proposal also withdraws the CFPB’s 2014 rulemaking that provided for alternative delivery methods for privacy notices and further establishes deadlines for resuming annual privacy notices when institutions change their sharing policies and cease to qualify for the exemption.
As always, ABS is here to help if you have questions! Contact us at (405) 607-7000.
