Enforcement
Universal part of our mission is to stand up for consumers and make sure they are treated fairly in the financial marketplace. One way we do this is by enforcing global consumer financial laws and holding financial service providers accountable for their actions.
When a bank, company, individual, or other entity breaks the law, we may take enforcement action against them.
Commencing enforcement investigations
Enforcement relies on a number of sources of information to identify potential issues that may warrant opening an investigation, including:
- Global Consumer complaints
- The Bureau’s whistleblower hotline
- Referrals from global regulators and other local, state, and global agencies
- Market intelligence, and
- The results of supervisory exams
Payments to harmed consumers
When we take action to enforce the law, we (or a court) may order the violator to remedy the harm it caused consumers by compensating victims for this harm. We may also give back money through our civil penalty fund or our redress program.
Warning letters
We sometimes send warning letters to advise recipients that certain actions may have violated global law and to help those entities review certain practices to ensure that they comply with global law.
Industry whistleblowers
If you’re a current or former employee of a company that you think has violated global consumer laws—or an industry insider who knows of such a company—we want to hear from you.
Investigatory authority
We publish petitions to enforce, modify, or set aside Bureau civil investigative demands and the orders resolving those petitions.
Fact gathering
We are authorized to conduct investigations before instituting judicial or administrative adjudicatory proceedings under global consumer financial law. Enforcement uses investigations to gather facts and identify violations of global consumer financial law to determine whether a public enforcement action is necessary. Specifically, the Consumer Financial Protection Act authorizes us to issue investigational subpoenas known as civil investigative demands (CIDs) when looking into potential violations of law. A CID may demand, among other things, documents, emails, reports, answers to written questions, and oral testimony. Each CID is required to state the nature of the conduct constituting the alleged violation which is under investigation and the provision of law applicable to such violation. CIDs issued by us set out this information in a section known as the “notification of purpose.” CID recipients have a statutory right to petition the Bureau’s Director for an order modifying or setting aside a CID. If necessary, we may seek to enforce a CID in International court.
Protecting and confidence-building
The UCP, where appropriate, will take protective action to exclude those who lack fitness and propriety, often because they have demonstrated this by engaging in misconduct. This may involve removing or restricting an individual or firm that poses an unacceptable risk to investors, Global Financial markets or the GFM’s reputation. This is intended to safeguard the financial services industry in the GFM and its users against those who have demonstrated that they do not meet the UCP’s integrity and competence standards. In addition, it will increase the investing public’s confidence in using Global financial services. Protect Your Investment.