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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 12 / Thursday, January 21, 2021 / Notices consumers may not be able to easily access generally available credit, lowerpriced credit, or creditor assistance whether before or after credit is extended. The Bureau is issuing this Statement to assist financial institutions seeking to increase access to fair and nondiscriminatory credit for LEP
consumers.
B. Statement This Statement provides principles and guidelines to inform and assist financial institutions in their decision making related to serving LEP
consumers. Section B.1 provides general principles for financial institutions to consider in serving LEP consumers in languages other than English. Section B.2 provides guidelines institutions can use to help implement those principles and develop compliance solutions, including key considerations to inform those decisions and specific information about common components of a compliance management system CMS.

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1. Guiding Principles for Serving LEP
Consumers The Bureau encourages financial institutions to better serve LEP
consumers while ensuring compliance with relevant Federal, State, and other legal requirements.30 Industry stakeholders note that potential legal uncertainty discourages some financial institutions from serving LEP consumers in languages other than English. The Bureau has also spoken to many financial institutions that nevertheless choose to serve LEP consumers in myriad ways and to varying degrees.31
The Bureau encourages institutions to better serve LEP consumers by applying the principles and guidelines in this Statement. The Bureau anticipates that if financial institutions do so, there will continue to be variations among financial institutions in the manner, and the extent to which, they provide products and services to LEP
consumers.
Financial institutions that wish to implement pilot programs or other phased approaches for rolling out LEPconsumer-focused products and services published in the Federal Register at 85 FR 77987
Dec. 3, 2020.
30 See, e.g., supra note 13.
31 See, e.g., CFPB, Spotlight on serving limited English proficient consumers: Language access in the consumer financial marketplace, 810 Nov.
2017, https www.consumerfinance.gov/dataresearch/research-reports/spotlight-serving-limitedenglish-proficient-consumers/ providing insights from financial institutions about serving LEP
consumers, including assessment of language needs, centralized point of contact for technical assistance, translation and interpretation systems, training and support for staff and contractors, and interactions with consumers.

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may consider doing so in a manner consistent with the guidelines in section B.2 of this Statement. Phased approaches may allow financial institutions to serve LEP consumers incrementally while managing risks and taking steps to ensure compliance with appliable laws.
Financial institutions may consider developing a variety of compliance approaches related to the provision of products and services to LEP consumers consistent with the guidelines in section B.2 of this Statement. Factors relevant in the compliance context may vary depending on the size, complexity, and risk profile of an institution.32
Therefore, differences in financial institutions and the ways they choose to serve LEP consumers will likely require different compliance solutions.
Financial institutions may mitigate certain compliance risks by providing LEP consumers with clear and timely disclosures in non-English languages describing the extent and limits of any language services provided throughout the product lifecycle.33 In those disclosures, financial institutions may provide information about the level of non-English language support as well as communication channels through which LEP consumers can obtain additional information and ask questions.
Financial institutions may wish to consider extending credit pursuant to a legally compliant special purpose credit program SPCP to increase access to credit for certain underserved LEP
consumers. Regulation B, which implements the ECOA, sets forth standards and general rules for SPCPs.34 By permitting the 32 CFPB, Supervisory Highlights: Fall 2016, 25
Oct. 2016, https files.consumerfinance.gov/f/
documents/Supervisory_Highlights_Issue_13__
Final_10.31.16.pdf; see also CFPB, ECOA Baseline Review Module 2, 6 Apr. 2019, https
files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_
supervision-and-examination-manual_ecoabaseline-exam-procedures_2019-04.pdf providing instructions to Bureau examiners on evaluating a financial institutions fair lending CMS, including its approach to managing the fair lending risks posed by its service providers.
33 See CFPB, Supervisory Highlights: Fall 2016, 23 Oct. 2016, https files.consumerfinance.gov/f/
documents/Supervisory_Highlights_Issue_13__
Final_10.31.16.pdf referencing supervisory observations of fair lending risks related to marketing only some available credit card products to Spanish-speaking consumers, while marketing several additional credit card products to Englishspeaking consumers. To mitigate any compliance risks related to these practices, one or more financial institutions revised their marketing materials to notify consumers in Spanish of the availability of other credit card products and included clear and timely disclosures to prospective consumers describing the extent and limits of any language services provided throughout the product lifecycle.
34 12 CFR 1002.8.

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consideration of a prohibited basis such as race or national origin in connection with an SPCP, ECOA and Regulation B
provide creditors with a tool to help meet the credit needs of underserved communities. The Bureau recently issued an advisory opinion to provide stakeholders with guidance concerning how to develop and implement an SPCP.35 While SPCPs are a useful tool to further that goal, financial institutions may responsibly serve LEP
consumers without the use of SPCPs.
2. Guidelines for Developing Compliance Solutions When Serving LEP Consumers Financial institutions may use the following key considerations and CMS
guidelines to mitigate ECOA, UDAAP, and other legal risks when making threshold determinations and other decisions related to serving LEP
consumers in languages other than English.36
a. Key Considerations i. Language Selection In determining whether to provide non-English language services to LEP
consumers and in which languages, financial institutions may consider documented and verifiable information e.g., the stated language preferences of its current customers 37 or U.S. Census 35 CFPB, Advisory Opinion: Equal Credit Opportunity Act Regulation B Special Purpose Credit Programs Dec. 2020, https
files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_
advisory-opinion_special-purpose-credit-program_
2020-12.pdf.
36 Although in a different context, other agencies have provided similar guidance in an attempt to increase access to services for LEP individuals. See, e.g., U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Dev., Office of General Counsel Guidance on Fair Housing Act Protections for Persons with Limited English Proficiency 2016, https www.hud.gov/sites/
documents/LEPMEMO091516.PDF This guidance discusses how the Fair Housing Act applies to a housing providers consideration of a persons limited ability to read, write, speak or understand English. Specifically, this guidance addresses how the disparate treatment and discriminatory effects methods of proof apply in Fair Housing Act cases in which a housing provider bases an adverse housing actionsuch as a refusal to rent or renew a leaseon an individuals limited ability to read, write, speak or understand English.; U.S. Dept. of Justice, Language Access Plan 2012, https
www.justice.gov/civil/file/997661/download This policy and the LEP Access Plan are not intended to create new services or obligations, but to eliminate or reduce limited English proficiency as a barrier or impediment to accessing the core programs and activities of the Civil Division.; U.S.
Dept. of Justice, Common Language Access Questions, Technical Assistance, and Guidance for Federally Conducted and Federally Assisted Programs Aug. 2011, https www.lep.gov/sites/
lep/files/resources/081511_Language_Access_CAQ_
TA_Guidance.pdf.
37 See infra section B.2.a.iii for additional information on language preference collection and tracking.

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