A formal removal of the “arbitration rule” from the list of federal rules and regulations has been filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), closing the book on the regulation.
“Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress has passed and the president has signed a joint resolution disapproving a final rule published by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) on July 19, 2017, to regulate arbitration agreements in contracts for specified consumer financial products and services,” the CFPB notice states, which is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register. “Under the joint resolution and by operation of the Congressional Review Act, the arbitration agreements rule has no force or effect. The Bureau is hereby removing it from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).”
President Donald Trump Nov. 1 signed H.R. 111, the repeal of the CFPB rule (which would have blocked “arbitration agreements” and allowed consumers to join in class actions over disputes about financial products), passed by the Senate in late October, 51-50, under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The House has approved the resolution earlier this year.
Under the CRA, once a rule is repealed it may not be reissued in substantially the same form – nor may a new rule that is substantially the same be issued – “unless the reissued or new rule is specifically authorized by a law enacted after the date of the joint resolution disapproving the original,” according to the statute, passed in 1996.
CFPB arbitration final rule: CRA revocation.