Small Business Lending Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B); Extension of Compliance Dates

<RULE> CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU <CFR>12 CFR Part 1002</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. CFPB-2025-0017]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 3170-AB40</RIN> <SUBJECT>Small Business Lending Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B); Extension of Compliance Dates</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) is finalizing its June 18, 2025 interim final rule amending Regulation B to extend the compliance dates set forth in its 2023 small business lending rule, as amended by a 2024 interim final rule, and to make other date-related conforming adjustments. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> This final rule is effective December 1, 2025. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Dave Gettler, Paralegal Specialist, Office of Regulations, at 202-435-7700 or <E T="03">https://reginquiries.consumerfinance.gov/.</E> If you require this document in an alternative electronic format, please contact <E T="03">CFPB_Accessibility@cfpb.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Background</HD> In 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). Section 1071 of that Act  <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)  <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> to require that financial institutions collect and report to the CFPB certain data regarding applications for credit for women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses. Section 1071's statutory purposes are to (1) facilitate enforcement of fair lending laws, and (2) enable communities, governmental entities, and creditors to identify business and community development needs and opportunities of women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  Public Law 111-203, tit. X, section 1071, 124 Stat. 1376, 2056 (2010), codified at ECOA section 704B, 15 U.S.C. 1691c-2. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  15 U.S.C. 1691 <E T="03">et seq.</E> </FTNT> Section 1071 directs the CFPB to prescribe such rules and issue such guidance as may be necessary to carry out, enforce, and compile data pursuant to section 1071. On March 30, 2023, the CFPB issued a final rule to implement section 1071 by adding subpart B to Regulation B (2023 final rule). The 2023 final rule was published in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> on May 31, 2023. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> Further details about rulemaking pursuant to section 1071 can be found in the preamble to the 2023 final rule. On June 25, 2024, the CFPB issued an interim final rule (2024 interim final rule) to extend the rule's compliance dates in accordance with orders issued by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> The 2024 interim final rule was published in the <E T="04">Federal Register</E> on July 3, 2024. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  88 FR 35150 (May 31, 2023). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>   <E T="03">Texas Bankers Ass'n</E> v. <E T="03">CFPB,</E> No. 7:23-cv-00144 (S.D. Tex.). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>  89 FR 55024 (July 3, 2024). <E T="03">See also</E> Order Granting-in-Part and Denying-in-Part Pls.' Mot. for Prelim. Inj., <E T="03">Texas Bankers Ass'n</E> v. <E T="03">CFPB,</E> No. 7:23-cv-00144 (S.D. Tex. July 31, 2023), ECF No. 25, <E T="03">https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_pi_order_texas_bankers.pdf;</E> Order Granting Intervenors' Mots. For Prelim. Inj., <E T="03">Texas Bankers Ass'n</E> v. <E T="03">CFPB,</E> No. 7:23-cv-00144 (S.D. Tex. Oct. 26, 2023), ECF No. 69, <E T="03">https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_pi_second_order_texas_bankers.pdf.</E> </FTNT> Challenges to the 2023 final rule filed remain ongoing in three jurisdictions; each of those courts have stayed the rule's compliance deadlines for some market participants. Specifically, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has stayed the 2023 final rule and tolled the compliance deadlines for plaintiffs and intervenors in that case, until further order of the court. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky has stayed the deadlines for plaintiffs in that case to comply with the 2023 final rule until further order of the court. <SU>7</SU> <FTREF/> And the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida has stayed the 2023 final rule and tolled the rule's compliance deadlines with respect to that case's plaintiff and its members for the length of time that the Fifth Circuit stay order is in effect, subject to modification at any time by the court. <SU>8</SU> <FTREF/> As the CFPB has noted in that litigation, it intends to initiate a new Section 1071 rulemaking and anticipates issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking as expeditiously as reasonably possible. <SU>9</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>6</SU>  Unpublished Order, <E T="03">Texas Bankers Ass'n</E> v. <E T="03">CFPB,</E> No. 24-40705 (5th Cir. Feb. 7, 2025). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>7</SU>  Opinion & Order, <E T="03">Monticello Banking Co. et al.</E> v. <E T="03">CFPB et al.,</E> No. 6:23-cv-00148-KKC (E.D. Ky. Mar. 11, 2025). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>8</SU>  Opinion & Order, <E T="03">Revenue Based Finance Coalition</E> v. <E T="03">CFPB et al.,</E> No. 1:23-cv-24882-DSL (S.D. Fla. May 6, 2025). </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>9</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> Defendants' Response to Plaintiff's Unopposed Motion to Stay, ECF No. 75, <E T="03">Revenue Based Finance Coalition</E> v. <E T="03">CFPB et al.,</E> No 1:23-cv-24882-DSL (S.D. Fla. Apr. 3, 2025). </FTNT> In its second interim final rule published June 18, 2025 (2025 interim final rule), the CFPB extended the compliance dates set forth in the 2023 final rule, as amended by the 2024 interim final rule, by approximately one year, and made conforming adjustments. Although the CFPB determined that the Administrative Procedure Act's good cause exception for not requiring public comment applied to the 2025 interim final rule, the CFPB nevertheless solicited comments. <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Summary of the Final Rule</HD> In this final rule, the CFPB confirms its findings in the 2025 interim final rule and has determined upon a review of comments received that no further changes are necessary, other than the correction of two typographical errors in official commentary identified by commenters. The CFPB received 20 comments in response to the 2025 interim final rule. Most commenters addressed the 2025 interim final rule itself; these comments are summarized and discussed below in part IV. Other comments addressed provisions of the 2023 final rule not taken up by the 2025 interim final rule. The CFPB finalizes the compliance dates in the 2025 interim final rule, under which covered financial institutions will begin collecting data as follows: <GPOTABLE COLS="5" OPTS="L2,nj,i1" CDEF="s80,r50,r50,r50,r40"> <TTITLE>Table 1—Compliance Dates and Filing Deadlines</TTITLE> <CHED H="1">Compliance tier</CHED> <CHED H="1">Original compliance date in the 2023 final rule</CHED> <CHED H="1"> Revised compliance date in the 2024 interim final rule </CHED> <CHED H="1">New compliance date</CHED> <CHED H="1">New first filing deadline</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Highest volume lenders (Tier 1)</ENT> <ENT>October 1, 2024</ENT> <ENT>July 18, 2025</ENT> <ENT>July 1, 2026</ENT> <ENT>June 1, 2027.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Moderate volume lenders (Tier 2)</ENT> <ENT>April 1, 2025</ENT> <ENT>January 16, 2026</ENT> <ENT>January 1, 2027</ENT> <ENT>June 1, 2028.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">Smallest volume lenders (Tier 3)</ENT> <ENT>January 1, 2026</ENT> <ENT>October 18, 2026</ENT> <ENT>October 1, 2027</ENT> <ENT>June 1, 2028.</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> Further, the CFPB determines it is appropriate to maintain the other conforming changes to the compliance date provisions promulgated by the 2025 interim final rule. Covered financial institutions are permitted to continue using their small business originations from 2022 and 2023 to determine their compliance tier, or they may instead use their originations from 2023 and 2024, or from 2024 and 2025. Covered financial institutions are permitted to begin collecting protected demographic data required under the 2023 final rule 12 months before their new compliance date, in order to test their procedures and systems. As illustrated above, the deadline for submitting small business lending data will remain June 1 following the calendar year for which data are collected. Finally, the CFPB updated its grace period policy statement to reflect the revised compliance dates. <HD SOURCE="HD1">III. Legal Authority</HD> The CFPB adopted the 2023 final rule pursuant to its authority under section 1071, which directs the CFPB to adopt rules governing the collection and reporting of small business lending data. Some aspects of the 2023 final rule were also adopted under the CFPB's more general rulemaking authorities in ECOA. The CFPB's legal authorities are discussed in detail in the 2023 final rule. <SU>10</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>10</SU>   <E T="03">See, e.g.,</E> 88 FR 35150, 35173-74 (May 31, 2023). </FTNT> The CFPB is finalizing the 2025 interim final rule's extension of the 2023 final rule's compliance dates, as previously amended by the 2024 interim final rule. ECOA section 704B(g)(1) grants the CFPB general rulemaking authority for section 1071. <HD SOURCE="HD1">IV. Discussion of the Final Rule</HD> Upon consideration of the comments received, the CFPB is finalizing the interim final rule. As discussed above, three ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 68k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━