The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced on October 11 that it will establish a taskforce of industry experts to examine the legal and regulatory environment facing consumers and financial service providers. The aim of the taskforce is to harmonize, modernize, and update consumer credit laws and their implementing regulations and to identify gaps in these laws and the ways to address them.

The taskforce sprang, in part, from a national commission, established in 1968 by the Consumer Credit Protection Act (“CCPA”), which conducted the original research and recommendations relating to the regulation of consumer credit.

The taskforce will produce new research and legal analysis and seek to simplify and modernize consumer financial regulation, where needed, to more effectively carry out the CFPB’s mission of protecting consumers in light of twenty-first century concerns. The CFPB also plans for the taskforce to address potential conflicts and inconsistencies in existing regulations and guidance.

The taskforce will have a chair and six members, all of whom will serve for a one-year term, and will bring on government employees from across the CFPB and federal government to assist in the effort.

Applications to serve on the taskforce may be accessed here and are due by 5:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, October 25, 2019. Applicants must have: (1) expertise in consumer protection and consumer financial products or services; (2) significant experience researching and analyzing consumer financial markets, laws, and regulations; (3) a past record of senior public or academic service; and (4) recognition for professional achievements and objectivity in economics, econometrics, or law.