The CFPB has joined other federal financial regulatory agencies in proposing a rule to establish data standards for certain information collections submitted to these agencies. This initiative aims to enhance the interoperability of financial regulatory data by setting standards for legal entity identifiers and other common identifiers.

The proposal is mandated by the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022. According to the Act, the CFPB must finalise its own rule within two years of the establishment of the final standards, adopting these data standards for information regularly submitted to the Bureau. The proposal is open for public comment for 60 days following its publication in the Federal Register.

The participating agencies include the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Department of the Treasury. These agencies invite public feedback on the proposed rule, which seeks to promote interoperability of financial regulatory data across their respective domains. The final standards established through this rulemaking process will be adopted for specific information collections in subsequent rulemakings or other actions by these agencies, as required by the Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022.

Information collection The joint standards established by the proposed rule would apply to specific collections of information reported to each Agency. While the FDTA does not define ‘collections of information,’ the term is defined in the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), which the Agencies must adhere to. Under the PRA, ‘collections of information’ means: The obtaining, causing to be obtained, soliciting, or requiring the disclosure of facts or opinions by or for an agency, regardless of form or format, calling for either answers to identical questions posed to, or identical reporting or recordkeeping requirements imposed on, ten or more persons, excluding agencies, instrumentalities, or employees of the United States; or answers to questions posed to agencies, instrumentalities, or employees of the United States for general statistical purposes.

The Agencies propose to define ‘collections of information’ in the context of the FDTA by referencing the PRA definition. This definition is familiar to the Agencies and public stakeholders. .