Blaine Luetkemeyer: “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Speaker, year after year, millions of dollars are spent on privacy notices that are either…”

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Speaker, year after year, millions of dollars are spent on privacy notices that are either disregarded or are confusing to consumers. Let's think about the cost of this. This outdated requirement doesn't cost in postage alone, but it also adds its compliance costs, the cost of supplies, printing fees, and man hours. Under current law, financial institutions are required to provide annual privacy notices explaining information-sharing practices to customers. Banks and credit unions have had to give these notices each year even if the privacy policies have not changed. This creates not only waste for financial institutions but confusion and increased costs to consumers. I talked to one community bank in my district recently that said they spend, roughly, 70 cents per disclosure. With a minimum of 250,000 accounts and customers, this one bank spends at least $175,000 on this one requirement. It may not seem like a lot of money to my colleagues, but I can tell you that $175,000 is a lot of money for a small institution like the one in my district. By the way, this is an institution with less than $10 billion in assets, so it will not be helped by the recent changes implemented by the CFPB. I want to be completely clear on what exactly this bill will do. This legislation will only remove the Gramm-Leach-Bliley annual privacy notice requirement if an institution has not in any way changed its privacy policies or procedures.…”