On December 10, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection issued proposed revisions to its 2016 Policy on No-Action Letters and proposed a BCFP Product Sandbox.

The proposed new policy has two parts: Part I is a revision of a 2016 policy on No-Action Letters, and Part II is a description of the BCFP Product Sandbox. The revised No-Action policy would eliminate the data-sharing requirement of the 2016 Policy, which required applicants to commit to sharing data about the product or service. The revisions to the 2016 Policy would also speed up the time in which the BCFP would grant or deny an application for a No-Action Letter to 60 days.

The BCFP Product Sandbox would grant companies similar relief under Part I of the proposed rule but would also provide two forms of additional exemption relief: “1. Approvals by order under three statutory safe harbor provisions (approval relief); and 2. Exemptions by order from statutory provisions under statutory exemption-by-order provisions (statutory exemptions), or from regulatory provisions that do not mirror statutory provisions under rulemaking authority or other general authority (regulatory exemptions).” The Product Sandbox approval relief and exemption relief would be for a period of two years; however, to take advantage of the Product Sandbox, applicants are required to commit to sharing data with the BCFP with respect to the products or services offered.

The proposed policy has the following goals: “1. Streamlining the application process; 2. Streamlining the BCFP’s processing of applications; 3. Expanding the types of statutory and regulatory relief available; 4. Specifying procedures for an extension where the relief initially provided is of limited duration; and 5. Providing for coordination with existing or future programs offered by other regulators designed to facilitate innovation.” The Product Sandbox will help foster innovation and gain insight into how regulations may need to adapt to allow pro-consumer innovation.

This proposed policy may be of particular interest to the fintech world in the business-to-consumer context, given the innovation and energy to adapt delivery of products and services over the Internet and the sometimes awkward fit between the remote delivery model and some regulations. Comments on the revised policy are due no later than 60 days after the proposals are published in the Federal Register.