Credit Practices Rules: Interagency Guidance Regarding Unfair or Deceptive Credit Practices

Summary

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration (collectively, the agencies) are issuing the attached statement to clarify that the repeal of credit practices rules applicable to depository institutions does not mean that the unfair or deceptive acts or practices described in those former regulations are permissible.

Highlights

While the credit practices rules for banks, savings associations, and federal credit unions are being repealed as a consequence of the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act), the Federal Trade Commission’s Credit Practices Rule remains in effect.

• Depending on the facts and circumstances, certain practices by banks, savings associations, and federal credit unions described in the former credit practices rules that are being repealed may violate the prohibition against unfair or deceptive acts or practices in section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act and sections 1031 and 1036 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
  
• The agencies continue to have supervisory and enforcement authority regarding unfair or deceptive acts or practices, which could include the practices described in the former credit practices rules, and the agencies may find that statutory violations exist even in the absence of a specific regulation governing the conduct.

Further Information

Please direct questions or comments to Kimberly G. Hebb, Director for Compliance Policy, at (202) 649-5470.

Grovetta N. Gardineer
Deputy Comptroller for Compliance Operations and Policy

Related Link

• “Interagency Guidance Regarding Unfair or Deceptive Credit Practices” (PDF)