Financial Issues

Regulation of the banking industry has undergone substantial changes over the past decade. In response to the 2007-2009 financial crisis, many new bank regulations were implemented pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 or under the existing authorities of bank regulators to address apparent weaknesses in the regulatory regime. Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of selected banking-related issues, including issues related to "safety and soundness" regulation, consumer protection, community banks, large banks, what type of companies should be able to establish banks, and recent market and economic trends. Chapter 2 provides a broad overview of various banking topics-key concepts in banking, overview of regulation, recent banking legislation, and policy issues. Banks generally must comply with a variety of requirements to hold minimum levels of capital. Chapter3 provides a brief overview of these requirements and examines related policy issues. Chapter 4 first provides background information on the consumer data industry and various specialty areas. It then examines one prominent specialty area-consumer scoring-and describes various factors used to calculate credit scores. Next, it provides a general description of the current regulatory framework of the consumer data industry. Finally, the chapter discusses selected policy issues pertaining to consumer data reports. Chapter 5 provides an overview of consumer lending markets, pricing, and legislative efforts designed to facilitate efficient credit allocation and pricing. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank; P.L. 111-203) established the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) to implement and enforce federal consumer financial law while ensuring consumers can access financial products and services as reported in chapter 6. Chapter 7 reports on the results of the audits of the fiscal years 2017 and 2016 financial statements of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which is incorporated in the enclosed Financial Report of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for Fiscal Year 2017. Chapter 8 provides an overview of how accounting and auditing standards are created and regulated in the private sector, the federal government, and state and local governments