Recission of a four-year-old policy aimed at helping creditors expand responsible credit access to economically or socially disadvantaged consumers and commercial enterprises was announced Tuesday by federal banking and credit union agencies, along with other federal agencies.
The rescission of the 2022 interagency statement on Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCPs) is effective immediately, the agencies noted.
According to the agencies – which include the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) – rescinding the policy is necessary “to ensure that creditors do not rely on it to engage in discriminatory activities that are inconsistent with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B and, to the extent applicable, the Fair Housing Act.”
Specifically, the agencies are rescinding the 2022 Interagency Statement on Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCPs) Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B (Interagency Statement).
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), in a separate press release, claimed that the 2022 policy statement was issued by the administration of former President Joe Biden (D). The release stated that the policy “encouraged creditors to develop special purpose credit programs (SPCPs) under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and its implementing regulation, Regulation B, in a manner designed to favor one class of Americans over another. Creditors were never permitted to discriminate against borrowers based on protected characteristics, but this rescission makes clear that creditors should not rely upon the Interagency Statement, previous guidance, or other related issuances going forward.”
In a financial institution letter (FIL), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) said that in April the CFPB finalized a rule amending certain provisions of Regulation B, which implement the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The letter noted that the now-rescinded interagency statement referenced an earlier version of Reg B’s provisions governing special purpose credit programs (SPCPs) that had since been amended by the CFPB’s final rule.
“The agencies determined that the rescission of the Interagency Statement is necessary to ensure that creditors do not rely on it to engage in discriminatory activities that are inconsistent with ECOA and Regulation B, and to the extent applicable, the Fair Housing Act (FHA),” the FDIC letter asserted.
The letter also stated that all SPCPs must comply with ECOA, Regulation B, and the FHA.
HUD Leads Interagency Rescission of 2022 Statement on Special Purpose Credit Programs
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