The CFPB has issued a request for information that seeks comment on its public and non-public external engagements, including field hearings, town halls, roundtables, and meetings of the CFPB’s advisory groups.  Comments on the RFI will be due 90 days after it is published in the Federal Register, which the CFPB expects to occur on February 26.

In the RFI, the CFPB seeks feedback on all aspects of conducting future external engagements, including the following specific areas of interest:

• Strategies for seeking public and private feedback from diverse external stakeholders

• Structures for convening diverse external stakeholders and the public in ways that maximize public participation and constructive input

• Processes for transparency in determining topics, locations, timing, frequency, participants and other elements of public and private events

• Vehicles for soliciting public and private perspectives from outside D.C.

• Strategies for promoting transparency of external engagements while protecting confidential business information and encouraging frank dialogue

• Strategies and channels for distributing information about external engagements to maximize awareness and participation

• Other approaches not currently used by the CFPB that would elicit constructive input

The new RFI represents the fifth in a series of RFIs announced by Mick Mulvaney, President Trump’s designee as Acting Director.  The subjects of the CFPB’s first four RFIs and their comment deadlines are as follows:

• Processes surrounding civil investigative demands and investigational hearings-March 27, 2018

• Administrative adjudication processes-April 6, 2018

• Enforcement processes-April 13, 2018

• Supervision program-May 21, 2018

In its press release announcing the fifth RFI, the CFPB stated that the next RFI in the series will be issued next week and will address the CFPB’s complaint reporting processes.