CFPB Sets Jan. 15 Deadline for Comments on Remittance Rule Effective Date Delay (Jan. 2, 2013)
Jan. 2, 2013
The CFPB has made public its proposed adjustments to a new rule on international remittances and the agency’s plan to briefly extend the effective date of the rule. The rule originally was slated to go into effect Feb. 7, 2013, but in its proposed revisions to the rule, published Dec. 31, 2012, in the Federal Register, the bureau now proposes to make the rule effective 90 days after the bureau finalizes the proposal. Assuming the CFBP finalizes the rule within the next several weeks after reviewing general comments (which are due Jan. 30), observers say the rule would likely become effective sometime in the late spring of 2013.
The remittance rule, originally announced in January 2012, requires disclosure and error resolution rights for consumers who send remittance transfers to foreign countries. The bureau’s proposal addresses several implementation challenges affecting entities covered by the rules, namely, the handling of errors resulting from incorrect account numbers consumers provide when sending remittance transfers; disclosure of certain third-party fees and foreign taxes and disclosure of sub-national foreign taxes.
Most affected companies presumably had braced to comply with the new rules as early as next month, but the deadline extension should provide breathing room for any that were still scrambling, Kristine M. Andreassen, an associate at Bryan Cave LLP, tells Paybefore. “The industry has known for the better part of a year that the compliance deadline for the rules was looming and hopefully they have some plans in place,” she says. However, for companies that might benefit from the deadline extension, it would be wise to send comments to that effect to the CFPB soon because the possibility exists that consumer advocacy groups might oppose a deadline extension, Andreassen notes.
Comments on the proposed temporary delay of the Feb. 7, 2013, effective date of the rule must be received by Jan. 15, 2013. Comments on the remainder of the proposal are due Jan. 30, 2013. The bureau invites comments identified by Docket No. CFPB–2012–0050 or RIN 3170–AA33 sent via www.regulations.gov.
