WASHINGTON - Regulators have a race on their hands to meet the deadlines Congress set last year when it passed the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.
This year five federal agencies must write about 15 rules of varying complexity stemming from the FACT Act. Regulators set some deadlines themselves, but Congress set others when it passed the law in November.
That adds up to a heavy workload for the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Trade Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of Thrift Supervision.
For example, on April 28 the agencies proposed a rule governing how banks can obtain and use medical information in their decisions to grant loans or financing. Comments are due May 28, and Congress said the rule must be final by June 4 - one week later.
Not likely, one lawyer said. Possible, another said.
"To be a slave to the clock could result in regulations that are unclear, otherwise problematic, and that people would have to live with for years," said L. Richard Fischer, a partner with Morrison & Foerster LLP. "Frankly, I think it would be irresponsible to push it that fast."
Unexpected issues might come up that could require more time to work out, and that could delay some of the rules, Mr. Fischer said. For instance, he said, the medical privacy rule as written now might regulate doctors who link patients with financing companies. In these situations, doctors could be considered creditors under the rule and forbidden to release medical records.
But Gilbert T. Schwartz, a partner with Schwartz & Ballen LLP, said regulators are very careful not to miss legislative deadlines and probably are working ahead on some of the issues.
"They are pretty meticulous about getting these things done in the appropriate time frame," Mr. Schwartz said. "When you have a statutory deadline, the agencies try very hard to make that, because it doesn't look good on their record if you miss a statutory deadline."
A Fed spokeswoman did not return a call for comment.
The FACT Act was signed into law Dec. 4. It amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act, setting requirements on the issuance of credit, the use of consumer data, identity-theft prevention, and other issues.
In February the Fed announced the effective dates for some FACT Act provisions. Rules that would not require significant changes to business procedures were to have been implemented by March 31. Rules that require significant changes must be implemented by Dec. 1.
