Agencies adjust civil penalties for inflation

Agency Rule-Making & Guidance CFPB OCC FDIC Civil Money Penalties

On January 12, the CFPB published a final rule adjusting upward the maximum amount of each civil penalty within their jurisdictions, as required by the Inflation Adjustment Act. As explained in the rule, the new maximum penalty amounts for 2018 are calculated by multiplying the corresponding 2017 penalty by a “cost-of-living adjustment” multiplier—which for 2018 has been set by the OMB at 1.02041—and then rounding to the nearest dollar. The new penalty amounts apply to civil penalties assessed after January 15, 2018.

In addition, the FDIC, the OCC, and the Federal Reserve recently issued similar Civil Penalty Inflation Adjustment notices.