On March 13, 2012, the Bureau, in response to a letter sent by several industry groups, announced that it is extending the period during which it is allowing comments to be made regarding regulatory streamlining.

A copy of the announcement can be accessed by clicking here.

Originally the comment on the comments period was to end April 3, 2012. The notice extends this to June 4, 2012.

As of the date of the extension announcement the Bureau has posted 121 comments on the web site. I have been told they received over 1,200 comments by the March 5, 2012 and that they will post them as quickly as possible.

To review the comments:

1. go to www.regulations.gov and search for Docket No CFPB-2011-0039.
2. Scroll down the response screen until you locate the title Streamlining Inherited Regulations. On the right hand side of the screen click on Open Docket Folder
3. On the next screen you will see the word Document Type and below that a check box captioned Public Submission with a parenthetical number to the right (thats how many comments are in the folder at this time). Click on the check box.
4. A page will be presented with the individual submissions listed. If you want to increase the number of responses viewable per page, use the drop down box on the right side of the page and select the number per page you want. The maximum per page is 250
5. Identify a comment you want to review. On the right side of the screen, click on the View As folder type. (It will be an HTML button, except for the rule itself which also has a PDF button.)
6. Once you click on the HTML icon a dialogue box will appear. If you want to read the comment on line click Open, or you can click save to save it to your local computer
7. A PUBLIC SUBMISSION screen will be presented when you have clicked Open in the prior step. The comment you see is what the submitter recorded in the comment box when they submitted their comment.
8. If the submitter also submitted an attachment, you will see a an attachment area below the General Comment Section .
9. If there is an attachment go back to the upper part of the form and click on the Document hyperlink [This is CFPB-2011-0039-XXXX which identifies the submission number and the docket number. ]
10. On the response screen you may have to scroll left/right and/or up/down to find the PDF Icon for the attachment.
11. Click on the PDF icon to view the attachment on line. It appears there may also be a DOC icon offered in this area. It seems if you want to view the DOC version you ultimately must save it to your local device to view it.

IMMAAG will be reviewing comments as they are posted and will share our thoughts before we comment on the comments.

While the Bureau does not make specifically state it in the March 13, 2012 announcement, it does appear that comments will be accepted even if the comment does not reference an original comment.

You are encouraged to weigh in. I invite you to share your thoughts with IMMAAG by sending a copy to admin@immaag.com, Subject: Regulatory Streamlining. I will incorporate the spirit, if not the letter, of your ideas in my follow up comments. ~ Bill Kidwell