Compliance Guidance Warns Lenders About Sales Incentives
December 12, 2016
In the wake of the Wells Fargo scandal involving the creation of unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts, the CFPB has issued a warning to lenders about the risks consumers face from improperly managed sales incentives. In CFPB Compliance Bulletin 2016-03, Detecting and Preventing Consumer Harm from Production Incentives, the bureau remarked, “The risks these incentives may pose to consumers are significant and both the intended and unintended effects of incentives can be complex, which makes this subject worthy of more careful attention by institutional leadership, compliance officers, and regulators alike.” For instance, “Such incentives may lead to outright violations of federal consumer financial law and other risks to the institution, such as public enforcement, supervisory actions, private litigation, reputational ...