On January 26, 2018, the CFPB published a “Request for Information Regarding Bureau Civil Investigative Demands and Associated Processes” (“Request”) in the Federal Register. In the Request, the CFPB asks industry and attorneys who regularly practice before the Bureau to comment on its processes surrounding Civil Investigative Demands (“CID”) and investigational hearings. Comments are due by March 27, 2018 and can be submitted electronically, by email, by regular mail, or by hand-delivery. The Request indicates that all comments will be posted online without change.

The CFPB requested comments on several specific topics, but did not limit comments to them. The topics include:

1. The process for issuing CIDs; the authority of CFPB personnel to issue them; how CIDs  can be made less burdensome; and the timeframes and processes for complying with or challenging them.
2. The requirements for responding to CIDs, including certification requirements, and the CFPB’s document submission standards.
3. Transparency with CID recipients as to the focus of the investigation and what information the CFPB needs to conduct its investigation.
4. The process for dealing with the inadvertent production of privileged information and whether that process should more closely mirror the Federal Rules of Evidence.
5. The process for conducting investigational hearings of business entities, including whether it should more closely mirror the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and whether counsel should be able to offer objections at investigational hearings.

This Request is one of the CFPB’s first opportunities to receive official comments from industry on its enforcement process. While the CFPB has requested comments on its rules and processes before, some people in the industry felt their comments were ignored. With the recent change of leadership, we anticipate a CFPB that will be more receptive to the concerns of industry. We therefore view the Request as an important opportunity for the industry to argue for permanent changes to the CID process, and to make the CID process more efficient, less expensive, and fairer to the targets of investigations.