Consumer Financial Protection Accountability and Reform Act of 2026

(a) Short title. This Act may be cited as the Consumer Financial Protection Accountability and Reform Act of 2026.

(b) Table of contents. The table of contents for this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Title I—Reforming Bureau Governance Sec. 101. Bringing the Bureau into the regular appropriations process. Sec. 102. Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund. Sec. 103. Transparency in cost-benefit analysis. Sec. 104. Accountability to small businesses. Sec. 105. Modernizing regulatory reviews. Sec. 106. Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection-Inspector General Reform. Title II—Restoring Legal Clarity and Procedural Fairness Sec. 201. Rectifying undefined descriptions of abusive acts and practices. Sec. 202. Limitation on use of unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices authority to circumvent statutes of limitations. Sec. 203. Definition of substantial injury. Sec. 204. Restoring court authority over litigation. Sec. 205. Clarification to the authority of the Bureau with respect to persons regulated by a State insurance regulator. Title III—Promoting Innovation in Consumer Financial Markets Sec. 301. Safe harbor for small-dollar credit products. Sec. 302. Guidance clarity statement required. Sec. 303. GAO study on buy now pay later services. Sec. 304. Earned wage access services. Title IV—Promoting Effective, Predictable Supervision Sec. 401. Asset thresholds for supervision of banks, savings associations, and credit unions by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Sec. 402. Supervisory election for covered institutions. Sec. 403. Financial regulatory coordination and accountability. Sec. 404. Reforms to nonbank supervision. Title V—Preventing Regulation by Enforcement Sec. 501. Civil Money Penalties. Sec. 502. Limitations on market monitoring functions. Sec. 503. Enforcement powers of the States. Sec. 504. Indexing of asset-based thresholds in regulations. Sec. 505. Collecting and tracking complaints. Sec. 506. Enhancements to small business loan privacy.