August 03, 2017

Wyden, Booker, Durbin Urge Consumer Protection Agency to Bring Transparency to Small Business Lending for Women and Minority Entrepreneurs

Dodd-Frank Act required Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to collect data about barriers to startup capital for women- and minority-owned small businesses

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to bring transparency to small business lending by identifying barriers that prevent women and minority entrepreneurs from starting small businesses.

The senators pressed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to follow through with implementing a provision of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that required the CFPB to collect and make available information about barriers women and minority business entrepreneurs face when they try to access loans and other startup capital needed to open new small businesses.

“We write to urge the CFPB to be expeditious in implementing these long-overdue transparency measures, which will finally shine a light on the barriers that women, minority, and other entrepreneurs face in accessing capital,” the senators said.

“We ask that the CFPB complete its public comment and move with speed to finalize guidance under a definite timeline.”

As a first step toward removing lending barriers faced by women and minority entrepreneurs, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act required financial institutions to collect and report information about loans to small businesses, including women-owned, minority-owned small businesses. In May, the CFPB requested public comments on this Dodd-Frank rule.

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