Before a public meeting of the Bureau’s Consumer Advisory Board on November 2, CFPB Director Rohit Chopra read prepared remarks.
He briefly discussed several subjects, including the Buy Now Pay Later market, big tech and data collection, peer-to-peer payment platforms, and Section 1033 rulemaking regarding consumers’ rights to their personal financial data. Notably, Chopra brought up a topic for discussion involving companies that set industry standards and those that provide essential infrastructure.
Chopra stressed that “[d]ecentralized, open banking will likely rely on fair standard-setting, through an amalgam of legally binding rules and industry developed standards,” acknowledging that private organizations play a significant role in establishing standards across sectors of the economy. He cautioned that incumbents would have a strong economic interest in defending their turf, so it may be challenging to achieve fair standard-setting. As examples of sectors where private organizations “are not neutral, but are instead owned or governed by certain market participants,”
Chopra cited the telecommunications and healthcare sectors. In these sectors, other players may also integrate a role akin to a lobbying or trade association. Chopra stated that the Bureau has been investing a lot of time in this area and that the organization is learning from the experiences of other nations, including the UK’s Open Banking Implementation Entity (which was created to provide essential services and infrastructure), as well as local advancements. He said the Bureau would create rules with an understanding of how requirements would be implemented in the marketplace.
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