Trump Administration Narrows Lending Discrimination Rules
The CFPB is finalizing a rule to narrow lending anti-discrimination requirements. The policy shifts focus to explicit conduct rather than disparate impacts.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the United States is moving to finalize a new regulation that would significantly narrow civil-rights-era antidiscrimination requirements for lenders. According to a government website, the federal watchdog agency expects to implement a policy first proposed in November that shifts the regulatory focus away from preventing unintentional discriminatory impacts on women and minorities.
Under the new framework, the CFPB would free banks and other financial institutions from a decades-old requirement to prevent "disparate impact." Instead, the agency will focus solely on preventing conduct that is explicitly discriminatory. This change aligns with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump a year ago regarding corporate regulatory burdens.
