Notice2025-11982
Guidance on Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 27, 2025
Issuing agencies
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Abstract
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) is issuing this policy statement to describe its plan to address criminally liable regulatory offenses.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 122 (Friday, June 27, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 122 (Friday, June 27, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27530-27531]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-11982]
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CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU
Guidance on Referrals for Potential Criminal Enforcement
AGENCY: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
ACTION: Policy statement
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SUMMARY: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) is
issuing this policy statement to describe its plan to address
criminally liable regulatory offenses.
DATES: This policy statement is applicable on June 27, 2025.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dave Gettler, Paralegal Specialist,
Office of Regulations, at 202-435-7700. If you require this document in
an alternative electronic format, please contact
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f0b3b6a0b2afb193939583839992999c998489b093968092de979f86"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="bffcf9effde0fedcdcdaccccd6ddd6d3d6cbc6ffdcd9cfdd91d8d0c9">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Policy Statement
On May 9, 2025, the President issued Executive Order (``E.O.'')
14294, Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations.\1\ Section
7 of E.O. 14294 provides that within 45 days of the order, and in
consultation with the Attorney General, each agency should publish
guidance in the Federal Register describing its plan to address
criminally liable regulatory offenses. The E.O. defines a ``criminal
regulatory offense'' as a ``Federal regulation that is enforceable by a
criminal penalty.'' This policy statement constitutes the Bureau's plan
to address criminally liable regulatory offenses.
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\1\ 90 FR 20363 (May 14, 2025).
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The Bureau administers and civilly enforces Federal consumer
financial law,\2\ which includes the Consumer Financial Protection Act
and several other statutes, such as the Truth in Lending Act, the Real
Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and the Electronic Fund Transfer
Act.\3\ The Bureau has issued regulations under these laws, and some of
those regulations are enforceable by a criminal penalty. For instance,
``whoever willfully and knowingly gives false or inaccurate information
or fails to provide information which he is required to disclose under
the [Truth in Lending Act] or any regulation issued thereunder . . .
shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than one
year, or both.'' \4\
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\2\ 12 U.S.C. 5511(a).
\3\ 12 U.S.C. 5481(14).
\4\ 15 U.S.C. 1611(a)(1); see also, e.g., 15 U.S.C. 1693n(a)(1)
(``Whoever knowingly and willingly gives false or inaccurate
information or fails to provide information which he is required to
disclose by [the Electronic Fund Transfer Act] or any regulation
thereunder . . . shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned
not more than one year, or both.''); 15 U.S.C. 1717 (``Any person
who willfully violates any of the provisions of [the Interstate Land
Sales Full Disclosure Act] or the rules and regulations prescribed
pursuant thereto . . . shall upon conviction be fined not more than
$10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.'');
Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.14(a) (implementing 12 U.S.C. 2607) (``Any
violation of this section is a violation of [12 U.S.C. 2607],''
which, in turn, is punishable by a fine of ``not more than $10,000''
or imprisonment ``for not more than one year, or both'').
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Where appropriate, the Bureau may refer alleged violations of these
criminal regulatory offenses to the Department of Justice. For
instance, in the course of an enforcement investigation, the Bureau may
obtain credible evidence that a person has committed a criminal
regulatory offense, and the Bureau may (where appropriate) refer such
an offense to the Department of Justice.
In exercising discretion in making referrals of criminal regulatory
offenses, Bureau officials will consider the following factors, among
others:
<bullet> the harm or risk of harm, pecuniary or otherwise, caused
by the alleged offense;
<bullet> the potential gain to the putative defendant that could
result from the offense;
<bullet> whether the putative defendant held specialized knowledge,
expertise, or was licensed in an industry related to the rule or
regulation at issue; and
<bullet> evidence, if any is available, of the putative defendant's
general awareness of the unlawfulness of his conduct as well as his
knowledge or lack thereof of the regulation at issue.
Consistent with the E.O., the Bureau also intends to take the
following steps to address criminal regulatory offenses:
<bullet> The Bureau will provide within 365 days of the E.O. (and
in consultation with the Attorney General), a report to the Director of
the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) containing: (i) a list of all
criminal regulatory offenses enforceable by the Bureau or the
Department of Justice; and (ii) for each such criminal regulatory
offense, the range of potential criminal penalties for a violation and
the applicable mens rea standard for the criminal regulatory offense.
The Bureau will simultaneously post this report on its web page and
periodically (but not less than once a year) update the report.
<bullet> The Bureau will consider whether a criminal regulatory
offense is included in this report when considering whether to make a
criminal referral to the Department of Justice or, where applicable, to
the Bureau's Inspector General.
<bullet> The Bureau will, in consultation with the Attorney
General, examine the Bureau's statutory authorities and determine
whether there is authority to adopt a background mens rea standard for
criminal regulatory offenses that applies unless a specific regulation
states an alternative mens rea. Within 30 days of the submission of the
report described above, the Bureau, in consultation with the Attorney
General, will submit a report to the Director of OMB summarizing the
information submitted in the report described above and assessing
whether the applicable mens rea standards for criminal regulatory
offenses enforced by the agency are appropriate. If consistent with the
statutory authorities identified pursuant to the review described
above, the report will present a plan for changing the applicable mens
rea standards and adopting a generally applicable background mens rea
standard, and provide a justification for each criminal regulatory
offense for which the Bureau proposes to deviate from its default mens
rea standard.
[[Page 27531]]
<bullet> In all future notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) and
final rules published in the Federal Register, the violation of which
may constitute criminal regulatory offenses, the Bureau intends to
include a statement identifying that the rule or proposed rule is a
criminal regulatory offense and the authorizing statute. The Bureau
will draft this statement in consultation with the Department of
Justice. In addition, when formulating the regulatory text of Bureau
NPRMs and final rules with criminal consequences that are published in
the Federal Register, the Bureau intends to explicitly state a mens rea
requirement for each element of a criminal regulatory offense,
accompanied by citations to the relevant provisions of the authorizing
statute.
II. Regulatory Matters
This is a general statement of policy under the Administrative
Procedure Act.\5\ It articulates considerations relevant to the
Bureau's exercise of its authorities. It does not have the force and
effect of law; it has no legally binding effect, including no legally
binding effect on persons or entities outside the Federal government;
it is not final agency action; and it may be rescinded or modified in
the Bureau's complete discretion.
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\5\ See 5 U.S.C. 553(b). However, this is not a ``statement of
policy'' as that term is used in the specific context of Regulation
X, 12 CFR 1024.4(a)(1)(ii).
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This action does not impose any new or revise any existing
recordkeeping, reporting, or disclosure requirements on covered
entities or members of the public that would be collections of
information requiring approval by the Office of Management and Budget
under the Paperwork Reduction Act.\6\
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\6\ 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
Russell Vought,
Acting Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2025-11982 Filed 6-26-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P
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