The CFPB announced that “it will hold a symposium on Consumer Access to Financial Records and Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act on February 26, 2020, at 9:30 a.m.”  The event will be webcast.

Section 1033 (12 U.S. Code § 5533) of Dodd-Frank covers consumer rights to access information.  “The Bureau’s data access symposium is intended to elicit a variety of perspectives on the current and future state of the market for services based on consumer-authorized use of financial data.”  The symposium will include remarks by Director Kraninger and will consist of three panels of experts:

  • The first panel will assess the current landscape of holders of consumer data and the benefits and risks of consumer-authorized data access.  The panel will be moderated by Paul Watkins, Assistant Director in the Bureau’s Office of Innovation.  The panel experts are:  Becky Heironimus, Managing Vice President of Customer Platforms, Data Ethics and Privacy, Capital One; John Pitts, Policy Lead, Plaid; Natalie Talpas, Senior Vice President, Product Group Manager, Digital, PNC; Christina Tetreault, Senior Policy Counsel, Consumer Reports; and Nick Thomas, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Finicity
  • The second panel will include a discussion on market developments in consumer-authorized data access. The panel will be moderated by Will Wade-Gery, Senior Advisor in the Bureau’s Office of Innovation. The panel experts are: Steven Boms, Executive Director, FDATA N.A.; Lila Fakhraie, Senior Vice President, Digital Banking APIs, Wells Fargo Bank; Jason Gross, Co-Founder & CEO, Petal; Melissa Koide, CEO, FinRegLab; and James Reuter, CEO & President, First Bank Holding Company.
  • The third panel will focus on the future state of the market, as well as considerations for policymakers on how to ensure consumer data is safeguarded while ensuring that consumers have continual access to their data.  The panel will be moderated by Thomas Devlin, Managing Counsel in the Bureau’s Research, Markets and Regulation Division.  The panel experts are: Jane Barratt, Chief Advocacy Officer, MX; Thomas P. Brown, Partner, Antitrust and Competition and Global Banking and Payment Systems Practices, Paul Hastings LLP; Brian Knight, Director of Innovation and Governance, Mercatus Center; Dan Murphy, Policy Manager, Financial Health Network; Natalie Williams, General Counsel, Responsible Banking and Data, JPMorgan Chase; and Chi Chi Wu, Staff Attorney, National Consumer Law Center

In the CFPB Fall 2019 Regulatory Agenda the Bureau wrote that

In recent years, the availability of consumer financial account data in electronic form, often in real time or near real time, has helped consumers understand and control their financial lives in a variety of ways. At the same time, the means by which data is accessed, transmitted, stored, and used can implicate significant privacy, security, and other consumer protection concerns. Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act provides that subject to rules prescribed by the Bureau, covered persons shall make available to consumers upon request transaction data and other information concerning a consumer financial product or service that the consumer obtains from a covered person. Section 1033 also states that the Bureau shall prescribe by rules standards to promote the development and use of standardized formats for information made available to consumers. In November 2016, the Bureau issued a Request for Information seeking comment from the public to better understand the consumer benefits and risks associated with market developments that rely on access to consumer financial account and account-related information. In October 2017, the Bureau issued Consumer Protection Principles for Consumer-Authorized Financial Data Sharing and Aggregation to express the Bureau’s vision for the data aggregation market. As the Bureau continues to monitor market developments, the Bureau will evaluate possible policy responses to issues identified, including potential rulemaking. Possible topics for consideration might include specific acts or practices and consumer disclosures. In addition, the Bureau will consider whether clarifications or adjustments are necessary with respect to existing regulatory structures that may be implicated by current and potential developments in this area.

The CFPB announcement for this symposium noted that it is “the fourth in a series announced last year to explore consumer protections in today’s dynamic financial services marketplace. The series is aimed at stimulating a proactive and transparent dialogue to assist the Bureau in its policy development process, including possible future rulemakings. The first symposium on June 25, 2019, covered the Dodd-Frank Act’s prohibition on abusive acts or practices. The second symposium on September 19, 2019, covered behavioral law and economics. The third symposium on November 6, 2019, covered Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.