§ 1616. Board review of consumer credit plans and regulations

• (a) Not later than 2 years after the effective date of this Act and every 2 years thereafter, except as provided in subsection (c)(2), the Board shall conduct a review, within the limits of its existing resources available for reporting purposes, of the consumer credit card market, including—
  • (1) the terms of credit card agreements and the practices of credit card issuers;
  • (2) the effectiveness of disclosure of terms, fees, and other expenses of credit card plans;
  • (3) the adequacy of protections against unfair or deceptive acts or practices relating to credit card plans; and
  • (4) whether or not, and to what extent, the implementation of this Act and the amendments made by this Act has affected—
    • (A) cost and availability of credit, particularly with respect to non-prime borrowers;
    • (B) the safety and soundness of credit card issuers;
    • (C) the use of risk-based pricing; or
    • (D) credit card product innovation.
• (b) In connection with conducting the review required by subsection (a), the Board shall solicit comment from consumers, credit card issuers, and other interested parties, such as through hearings or written comments.
• (c)
  • (1) Following the review required by subsection (a), the Board shall publish a notice in the Federal Register that—
    • (A) summarizes the review, the comments received from the public solicitation, and other evidence gathered by the Board, such as through consumer testing or other research; and
    • (B) either—
      • (i) proposes new or revised regulations or interpretations to update or revise disclosures and protections for consumer credit cards, as appropriate; or
      • (ii) states the reason for the determination of the Board that new or revised regulations are not necessary.
  • (2) In the event that the Board materially revises regulations on consumer credit card plans, a review need not be conducted until 2 years after the effective date of the revised regulations, which thereafter shall be treated as the new date for the biennial review required by subsection (a).
• (d) The Board shall report to Congress not less frequently than every 2 years, except as provided in subsection (c)(2), on the status of its most recent review, its efforts to address any issues identified from the review, and any recommendations for legislation.
• (e) The Federal banking agencies (as that term is defined in section 1813 of title 12 ) and the Federal Trade Commission shall provide annually to the Board, and the Board shall include in its annual report to Congress under section 247 of title 12 , information about the supervisory and enforcement activities of the agencies with respect to compliance by credit card issuers with applicable Federal consumer protection statutes and regulations, including—
  • (1) this Act, the amendments made by this Act, and regulations prescribed under this Act and such amendments; and
  • (2) section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act [ 15 U.S.C. 45 ], and regulations prescribed under the Federal Trade Commission Act [ 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.], including part 227 of title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as prescribed by the Board (referred to as “Regulation AA”).