CFPB Publicly Announces Changes to Exam Reports, Identifies Mortgage Servicing Exam Findings

CFPB Examination Nonbank Supervision Mortgage Servicing Bank Supervision

On January 30, the CFPB issued a new Supervisory Highlights report. The report publicly announces changes to the CFPB’s examination reports and supervisory letters. Beginning in January 2014 the CFPB is changing the format of the Examination Reports and Supervisory Letters (collectively referred to as reports) that it sends to supervised entities after conducting compliance reviews. The changes to the report templates aim to: (i) facilitate drafting by examiners; (ii) simplify reports and reduce repetition; and (iii) facilitate follow-up reporting by supervised entities about actions they take to address compliance management weaknesses or legal violations found at CFPB reviews.

The primary template changes include:

• Elimination of Recommendations. Any recommendations for improving currently satisfactory processes will be provided orally when examiners are on-site.
• Elimination of the list of CFPB team members participating in a review. Reports will continue to be signed by the Examiner in Charge and provide regional management contact information.
• Creation of a single section in the report that includes all of the items that the CFPB expects the entity to address when the review identifies violations of law or weaknesses in compliance management. This entire section will be referred to as “Matters Requiring Attention,” regardless of whether the CFPB is requiring specific attention by an entity’s Board of Directors. The CFPB will no longer include additional “Required Corrective Actions.” The entity receiving the report will be expected to furnish periodic progress reports to the CFPB about all Matters Requiring Attention. The frequency of reporting will be tailored to the specific matters in a report.

The report also provides “supervisory observations,” which are limited to mortgage servicing. In a section on non-public supervisory actions the report states recent supervisory activities have resulted in at least $2.6 million in remediation to consumers, and that these non-public supervisory actions generally have been the product of CFPB examinations, either through examiner findings or self-reported violations during an exam.