WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says it ended its use of disparate impact in fair lending supervision and enforcement, closed nearly 1,500 supervisory actions and shifted its focus to intentional discrimination and unlawful debanking.
The changes are detailed in the bureau’s 2025 Fair Lending Report, published Nov. 6 in the Federal Register after its Oct. 1 release on the CFPB website. The report covers calendar year 2025 and includes updates on rules finalized in 2026.
The Bureau said its fair lending enforcement now focuses on direct evidence of intentional racial discrimination and identifiable victims. It described the shift as a response to President Donald Trump’s executive orders and what current CFPB leadership characterized as regulatory overreach under previous administrations.
NCUA Makes Four Referrals
The National Credit Union Administration referred four matters involving violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act or its implementing Regulation B to the Justice Department in 2025, according to the report.
Two referrals involved discrimination based on receipt of public assistance, one involved age and marital status, and one involved age alone. The report did not identify the credit unions involved.
NCUA also reported examination findings involving discrimination on a prohibited basis, refusal to extend credit to a creditworthy applicant on a prohibited basis and deficiencies in notices to applicants about credit decisions.
Across federal agencies, 140 institutions were cited for violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Regulation B or both, the report said. The CFPB itself reported initiating no supervisory activities or citing any fair lending violations during the reporting period. It made no Equal Credit Opportunity Act referrals to the Justice Department in 2025.
Enforcement Priorities Shift
The CFPB said it closed 76% of its supervisory actions, nearly 1,500, along with a substantial majority of outstanding examinations. About 12% of the closed supervisory actions concerned fair lending.
The bureau said it closed portions of examinations and investigations that relied on disparate impact liability and terminated orders based on that theory. Disparate impact addresses discriminatory effects of otherwise neutral policies without requiring proof of discriminatory intent.
The report also describes the termination of earlier orders involving Citibank, Bank of America, Washington Federal and other lenders. Several institutions had paid penalties, provided consumer relief or completed compliance obligations, according to the bureau.
The CFPB said it is prioritizing unlawful debanking, including religious discrimination and compliance with required notices explaining adverse credit decisions. It reviewed complaints and supervisory information and worked with the Justice Department’s Equal Access to Banking Task Force.
Rules Narrow Lending Requirements
An April 2026 Regulation B amendment removed language supporting disparate impact liability and prohibited using race, color, national origin or sex to determine eligibility for special purpose credit programs, according to the report.
A separate May 2026 rule narrowed small-business lending data requirements under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act. It raised the annual loan origination threshold for covered institutions from 100 to 1,000 and reduced the small-business annual revenue ceiling from $5 million to $1 million.
The rule also excluded merchant cash advances, agricultural lending and small-dollar business credit, reduced required data points and established a uniform Jan. 1, 2028, compliance date, the CFPB said. The bureau estimated nearly $100 million in one-time savings and annual savings of $166 million to $181 million for affected institutions.
