In a new Report to Congress, the Government Accountability
Office ("GAO") urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
("CFPB") to implement a systematic process that would
efficiently prioritize and address significant consumer risks.
In its review, the GAO assessed how the CFPB identifies,
monitors and reports consumer risks. According to the GAO, although
the CFPB established a process for determining policy priorities
based on market data and other information in 2015, the agency has
not yet decided whether it will continue to use this process to set
priorities. As a result, the GAO found that the "CFPB
currently lacks a systematic, bureau-wide process for prioritizing
financial risks to consumers and [for] considering how it will use
its tools—such as rulemaking, supervision, and consumer
education—to address them."
