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On September 1, 2026, Ballard Spahr (through its representative, Adam Maarec), in response to an invitation from the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC or Committee), attended a roundtable at the U.S. Capitol focused on the future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The discussion, “Modernizing Consumer Financial Protection: Reform, Accountability, and Opportunity,” featured House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill, Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chairman Andy Barr, Consumer Bankers Association President and CEO Lindsey Johnson, and Financial Technology Association President and CEO Penny Lee, with opening remarks from former CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger.
The roundtable coincided with the Committee’s unveiling of H.R. 10184, the Consumer Financial Protection Accountability and Reform Act of 2026, which builds on the Discussion Draft released on HFSC’s website to the public for comment last month. In announcing the bill, Committee leadership described its objectives as increasing CFPB accountability and transparency, providing clearer and more consistent rules for consumers and financial institutions, promoting innovation and competition, and establishing a more predictable and risk-based approach to federal oversight.
Those themes also framed much of the roundtable discussion. Participants discussed the effects of changing regulatory interpretations across administrations, the distinction between nonbinding guidance and enforceable legal requirements, coordination among federal and state regulators, the role of cost-benefit analysis and retrospective review for newly proposed and existing regulations, respectively, and the incentives that apply when firms self-identify issues and remediate consumer harm. Speakers also discussed the need to preserve effective consumer protection while providing greater certainty about the standards that govern regulated entities.
The legislation addresses those subjects across five titles covering CFPB governance and funding; legal clarity and procedural fairness, including UDAAP; innovation in consumer financial markets; supervision of banks and nonbanks; and regulation by enforcement. Among other provisions, the bill would move the CFPB into the congressional appropriations process, expand rulemaking and retrospective-review requirements, require rulemaking concerning the meaning of “abusive,” revise aspects of bank and nonbank supervision, distinguish nonbinding guidance from enforceable law, and make changes to civil penalties and the Bureau’s complaint framework.
For a more detailed look at the Discussion Draft, see our August 6 Consumer Finance Monitor post reviewing the five titles of the discussion draft. Ballard Spahr also hosted an August 24 webinar with David McGrath of the House Financial Services Committee majority staff, one of the staff who helped create the Discussion Draft, addressing the Committee’s objectives and the proposal’s reforms.
We will soon be posting a detailed blog about the bill, focusing in particular on the major changes made to the Discussion Draft.
The legislative process will determine the ultimate shape of the package, and individual provisions are likely to receive further scrutiny. The roundtable nevertheless provided a useful view into the issues Republican Committee leaders and industry participants are focused on as Congress considers whether and how to revise the statutory framework governing the CFPB.
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