Financial Product Safety Commission Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3990 To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to make the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection an independent Financial Product Safety Commission, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 17, 2020 Mrs. FISCHER (for herself, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. SASSE, and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 to make the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection an independent Financial Product Safety Commission, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Financial Product 4 Safety Commission Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3990.IS S3990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3990 IS SEC. 2. MAKING THE BUREAU AN INDEPENDENT FINAN- 1 CIAL PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION. 2 The Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 3 U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) is amended— 4 (1) in section 1011— 5 (A) in the heading of such section, by 6 striking ‘‘BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINAN- 7 CIAL PROTECTION’’ and inserting ‘‘FINAN- 8 CIAL PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION’’; 9 (B) in subsection (a)— 10 (i) in the heading of such subsection, 11 by striking ‘‘BUREAU’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘COMMISSION’’; 13 (ii) by striking ‘‘in the Federal Re- 14 serve System,’’; 15 (iii) by striking ‘‘independent bureau’’ 16 and inserting ‘‘independent commission’’; 17 (iv) by striking ‘‘Bureau of Consumer 18 Financial Protection’’ and inserting ‘‘Fi- 19 nancial Product Safety Commission (here- 20 inafter in this section referred to as the 21 ‘Commission’)’’; and 22 (v) by striking ‘‘Bureau’’ each place 23 such term appears and inserting ‘‘Commis- 24 sion’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3990.IS S3990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3990 IS (C) by striking subsections (b), (c), and 1 (d); 2 (D) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 3 section (j); 4 (E) in subsection (j), as so redesignated— 5 (i) by striking ‘‘, including in cities in 6 which the Federal reserve banks, or 7 branches of such banks, are located,’’; and 8 (ii) by striking ‘‘Bureau’’ each place 9 such term appears and inserting ‘‘Commis- 10 sion’’; and 11 (F) by inserting after subsection (a) the 12 following new subsections: 13 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY TO PRESCRIBE REGULATIONS.— 14 The Commission may prescribe such regulations and issue 15 such orders in accordance with this title as the Commis- 16 sion may determine to be necessary for carrying out this 17 title and all other laws within the Commission’s jurisdic- 18 tion and shall exercise any authorities granted under this 19 title and all other laws within the Commission’s jurisdic- 20 tion. 21 ‘‘(c) COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 23 composed of 5 members who shall be appointed by 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3990.IS S3990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3990 IS the President, by and with the advice and consent 1 of the Senate, from among individuals who— 2 ‘‘(A) are citizens of the United States; and 3 ‘‘(B) have strong competencies and experi- 4 ences related to consumer financial products 5 and services. 6 ‘‘(2) STAGGERING.—The members of the Com- 7 mission shall serve staggered terms, which initially 8 shall be established by the President for terms of 1, 9 2, 3, 4, and 5 years, respectively. 10 ‘‘(3) TERMS.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 12 Commission, including the Chair, shall serve for 13 a term of 5 years. 14 ‘‘(B) REMOVAL.—The President may re- 15 move any member of the Commission for ineffi- 16 ciency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. 17 ‘‘(C) VACANCIES.—Any member of the 18 Commission appointed to fill a vacancy occur- 19 ring before the expiration of the term to which 20 that member’s predecessor was appointed (in- 21 cluding the Chair) shall be appointed only for 22 the remainder of the term. 23 ‘‘(D) CONTINUATION OF SERVICE.—Each 24 member of the Commission may continue to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3990.IS S3990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3990 IS serve after the expiration of the term of office 1 to which that member was appointed until a 2 successor has been appointed by the President 3 and confirmed by the Senate, except that a 4 member may not continue to serve more than 1 5 year after the date on which that member’s 6 term would otherwise expire. 7 ‘‘(E) OTHER EMPLOYMENT PROHIBITED.— 8 No member of the Commission shall engage in 9 any other business, vocation, or employment. 10 ‘‘(d) AFFILIATION.—Not more than 3 members of 11 the Commission shall be members of any one political 12 party. 13 ‘‘(e) CHAIR OF THE COMMISSION.— 14 ‘‘(1) INITIAL CHAIR.—The first member and 15 Chair of the Commission shall be the individual serv- 16 ing as Director of the Bureau of Consumer Finan- 17 cial Protection on the day before the date of the en- 18 actment of this subsection. Such individual shall 19 serve until the President has appointed all 5 mem- 20 bers of the Commission in accordance with sub- 21 section (c). 22 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT CHAIR.—Of the 5 members 23 appointed in accordance with subsection (c), the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3990.IS S3990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3990 IS President shall appoint 1 member to serve as the 1 subsequent Chair of the Commission. 2 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY.—The Chair shall be the prin- 3 cipal executive officer of the Commission, and shall 4 exercise all of the executive and administrative func- 5 tions of the Commission, including with respect to— 6 ‘‘(A) the appointment and supervision of 7 personnel employed under the Commission 8 (other than personnel employed regularly and 9 full time in the immediate offices of members of 10 the Commission other than the Chair); 11 ‘‘(B) the distribution of business among 12 personnel appointed and supervised by the 13 Chair and among administrative units of the 14 Commission; and 15 ‘‘(C) the use and expenditure of funds. 16 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—In carrying out any of the 17 Chair’s functions under the provisions of this sub- 18 section the Chair shall be governed by general poli- 19 cies of the Commission and by such regulatory deci- 20 sions, findings, and determinations as the Commis- 21 sion may by law be authorized to make. 22 ‘‘(5) REQUESTS OR ESTIMATES RELATED TO 23 APPROPRIATIONS.—Requests or estimates for reg- 24 ular, supplemental, or deficiency appropriations on 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3990.IS S3990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3990 IS behalf of the Commission may not be submitted by 1 the Chair without the prior approval of the Commis- 2 sion. 3 ‘‘(f) INITIAL QUORUM ESTABLISHED.—The first 4 member and Chair of the Commission described under 5 subsection (e)(1) shall constitute a quorum for the trans- 6 action of business until the President has appointed all 7 5 members of the Commission in accordance with sub- 8 section (c). Following such appointment of 5 members, the 9 quorum requirements of subsection (g) shall apply. 10 ‘‘(g) NO IMPAIRMENT BY REASON OF VACANCIES.— 11 No vacancy in the members of the Commission after the 12 establishment of an initial quorum under subsection (f) 13 shall impair the right of the remaining members of the 14 Commission to exercise all the powers of the Commission. 15 Three members of the Commission shall constitute a 16 quorum for the transaction of business, except that if 17 there are only 3 members serving on the Commission be- 18 cause of vacancies in the Commission, 2 members of the 19 Commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 20 of business. If there are only 2 members serving on the 21 Commission because of vacancies in the Commission, 2 22 members shall constitute a quorum for the 6-month period 23 beginning on the date of the vacancy which caused the 24 number of Commission members to decline to 2. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3990.IS S3990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3990 IS ‘‘(h) SEAL.—The Commission shall have an official 1 seal. 2 ‘‘(i) COMPENSATION.— 3 ‘‘(1) CHAIR.—The Chair shall receive com- 4 pensation at the rate prescribed for level I of the 5 Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, 6 United States Code. 7 ‘‘(2) OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 8 The 4 other members of the Commission shall each 9 receive compensation at the rate prescribed for level 10 II of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of 11 title 5, United States Code.’’; 12 (2) in section 1012(c), by striking paragraphs 13 (2), (3), (4), and (5); and 14 (3) in section 1014(b), by striking ‘‘Not fewer 15 than 6 members shall be appointed upon the rec- 16 ommendation of the regional Federal Reserve Bank 17 Presidents, on a rotating basis.’’. 18 SEC. 3. DEEMING OF NAME. 19 Any reference in a law, regulation, document, paper, 20 or other record of the United States to the Bureau of Con- 21 sumer Financial Protection, except in subsection (e)(1) of 22 section 1011 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act 23 of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5491), as added by this Act, shall be 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3990.IS S3990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3990 IS deemed a reference to the Financial Product Safety Com- 1 mission. 2 SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 3 (a) CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION ACT OF 4 2010.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 6 paragraph (2), the Consumer Financial Protection 7 Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) is amended— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘Director of the Bureau’’ 9 each place such term appears, other than where 10 such term is used to refer to a Director other 11 than the Director of the Bureau of Consumer 12 Financial Protection, and inserting ‘‘Financial 13 Product Safety Commission’’; 14 (B) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place such 15 term appears and inserting ‘‘Financial Product 16 Safety Commission’’, other than where such 17 term is used to refer to a Director other than 18 the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Finan- 19 cial Protection; and 20 (C) in section 1002, by striking paragraph 21 (10). 22 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The Consumer Financial 23 Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) is 24 amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3990.IS S3990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3990 IS (A) in section 1013(c)(3)— 1 (i) by striking ‘‘Assistant Director of 2 the Bureau for’’ and inserting ‘‘Head of 3 the Office of’’; and 4 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 5 ‘‘Assistant Director’’ and inserting ‘‘Head 6 of the Office’’; 7 (B) in section 1013(g)(2)— 8 (i) by striking ‘‘ASSISTANT DIREC- 9 TOR’’ and inserting ‘‘HEAD OF THE OF- 10 FICE’’; and 11 (ii) by striking ‘‘an assistant director’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘a Head of the Office of Fi- 13 nancial Protection for Older Americans’’; 14 (C) in section 1016(a), by striking ‘‘Direc- 15 tor of the Bureau’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair of the 16 Financial Product Safety Commission’’; and 17 (D) in section 1066(a), by striking ‘‘Direc- 18 tor of the Bureau is’’ and inserting ‘‘first mem- 19 ber of the Commission is’’. 20 (b) DODD-FRANK WALL STREET REFORM AND CON- 21 SUMER PROTECTION ACT.—The Dodd-Frank Wall Street 22 Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 23 et seq.) is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3990.IS S3990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3990 IS (1) in section 111(b)(1)(D), by striking ‘‘Direc- 1 tor’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair of the Financial Product 2 Safety Commission’’; and 3 (2) in section 1447, by striking ‘‘Director of the 4 Bureau’’ each place such term appears and inserting 5 ‘‘Financial Product Safety Commission’’. 6 (c) ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFER ACT.—Section 7 920(a)(4)(C) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 8 U.S.C. 1693o–2(a)(4)(C)), as added by section 1075(a)(2) 9 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, is 10 amended by striking ‘‘Director of the Bureau of Consumer 11 Financial Protection’’ and inserting ‘‘Financial Product 12 Safety Commission’’. 13 (d) EXPEDITED FUNDS AVAILABILITY ACT.—The 14 Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4001 et 15 seq.), as amended by section 1086 of the Consumer Finan- 16 cial Protection Act of 2010, is amended by striking ‘‘Di- 17 rector of the Bureau’’ each place such term appears and 18 inserting ‘‘Financial Product Safety Commission’’. 19 (e) FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE ACT.—Section 2 20 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1812), 21 as amended by section 336(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall 22 Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, is amended 23 by striking ‘‘Director of the Consumer Financial Protec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3990.IS S3990 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3990 IS tion Bureau’’ each place such term appears and inserting 1 ‘‘Chair of the Financial Product Safety Commission’’. 2 (f) FEDERAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS EXAMINA- 3 TION COUNCIL ACT OF 1978.—Section 1004(a)(4) of the 4 Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 5 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3303(a)(4)), as amended by section 1091 6 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, is 7 amended by striking ‘‘Director of the Consumer Financial 8 Protection Bureau’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair of the Financial 9 Product Safety Commission’’. 10 (g) FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION IM- 11 PROVEMENT ACT.—Section 513 of the Financial Literacy 12 and Education Improvement Act (20 U.S.C. 9702), as 13 amended by section 1013(d)(5) of the Consumer Financial 14 Protection Act of 2010, is amended by striking ‘‘Director’’ 15 each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Chair of the 16 Financial Product Safety Commission’’. 17 (h) HOME MORTGAGE DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1975.— 18 Section 307 of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 19 1975, as amended by section 1094(6) of the Consumer 20 Financial Protection Act of 2010, is amended by striking 21 ‘‘Director of [Text truncated for display. 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