H.R. 3445 — Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Commission Act

This section restructures the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB)—currently an independent bureau within the Federal Reserve System led by a single director—as an independent agency vested in a five-member commission appointed by the President with Senate confirmation. (As background, the CFPB enforces federal consumer financial protection laws, supervises financial institutions, and writes rules to prevent abusive practices.) The commission consists of five members serving staggered five-year terms (initial terms of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years), with at least two having private-sector experience in consumer financial products or services and at least one a former state bank supervisor; no more than three members may belong to the same political party, and the President may remove members only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance. The current CFPB director serves as initial chair and sole quorum for six months or until all five members are appointed, after which the President designates a subsequent chair from the five members; the chair manages personnel, business distribution, and expenditures subject to commission policies, and appropriation requests require commission approval. Three commission members constitute a quorum (two if only three members serve, or two for six months if only two serve); vacancies do not impair remaining members' powers, and the commission may prescribe regulations and issue orders to implement its authorities. The provision authorizes an official seal for the agency and provides for the chair's compensation (text cuts off).

This section deems any reference in a U.S. law, regulation, document, paper, or other record to the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB)—an independent bureau that regulates consumer financial products and services under federal consumer financial laws—as a reference to the commission leading and governing the CFPB, except in subsection (e)(1) of section 1011 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5491), as added by this Act. (Thus, authority and responsibilities previously assigned to the Director now apply to the commission.)

This section makes conforming amendments to multiple federal statutes to replace most references to the "Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau" with "Bureau," "Chair of the Bureau," or related terms, including striking the statutory definition of "Director" in section 1002(10) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5481 et seq.) and eliminating section 1066 of that act. It revises terminology in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.), Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1812), Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.), and other laws (e.g., Electronic Fund Transfer Act [15 U.S.C. 1693 et seq.], Expedited Funds Availability Act [12 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.]) to refer to the "Chair of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection." The section also updates titles such as "Assistant Director" to "Head of the Office" in specified provisions of the Consumer Financial Protection Act and makes additional conforming changes (e.g., striking and redesignating paragraphs, replacing pronouns) in the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (15 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).