WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The top U.S. watchdog agency for consumer financial protection said Tuesday it will issue "interim" regulations governing open banking and consumer data rights because it expects
to run out of money before completing a process now underway to rewrite Biden-era rules.
The agency, which President Donald Trump and other top officials have said should be dismantled, is currently in the process of rewriting regulations adopted last year to govern consumers' control over the sharing of their personal data between banks and the burgeoning financial app and digital currency sectors.
However the White House has refused to fund the agency and the CFPB has said in court cash on hand could be exhausted in weeks. Lawyers representing non-profits and unionized agency staff have nevertheless asked federal courts to require the Trump administration to fund the agency.
"The Bureau anticipates having sufficient funds to continue operations until at least December 31, 2025," the agency told a federal court in Kentucky. "In light of that development, the Bureau will undertake efforts to issue an interim final" rule.
The agency's funding crisis comes as the CFPB, which has been virtually shut down since February, pursues efforts to ease and roll back existing regulations, including Civil Rights-era anti-discrimination protections.
Last year, the CFPB rolled out rules it said would expand consumer control over their personal data, opening up access to new financial technologies, spurring competition and driving down costs. However, current agency leadership supported a banking industry lawsuit that sought to strike down the regulations, saying they exceeded the CFPB's legal authority.
The CFPB did an about-face in July after prominent figures in the digital asset sector objected to plans by JPMorgan Chase to charge financial technology companies for access to depositors' data. The agency has so far received nearly 14,000 comments on its proposed changes, requiring time to digest them in preparing a final version.
(Reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
