McHenry releases final financial data privacy bill ahead of markup

WASHINGTON — House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., released his final version of his financial data privacy bill ahead of a planned markup on Tuesday. 

McHenry's bill would require financial companies to offer consumers more disclosures regarding their financial data, and it would allow consumers to request that their records be deleted. McHenry said in a statement that the bill is meant to secure private financial data "without strangling innovation." 

There's some notable omissions in the final version than a draft circulated last year.  The planned section on enforcement that was marked "To be added" has been removed entirely in the final version. This comes at a time when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency that would be inextricably linked to the idea of protecting consumers' financial data, is under scrutiny from Republicans and courts over the legality of its funding structure. 

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McHenry's bill would also preempt state laws, an idea that rankled House Financial Services Committee ranking member Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., in a hearing earlier this month. California, according to Americans for Financial Reform legislative director Renita Marcellin, has tougher data protection laws than McHenry's discussion draft. 

"I'm interested in learning how we can strengthen data privacy standards to better protect consumers," Waters said during the hearing.  "I know this is a priority for Chairman McHenry, but I've heard some concerns with the approach taken in the discussion draft we're considering today. For example, according to California's state privacy agency, the discussion draft we're considering would preempt state laws, including those in my home state. The draft would prevent states from adopting new protections in response to changes in technology, something the current law allows." 

In materials accompanying the bill's release, McHenry's office said that the preemption part of the chairman's bill would "reduce compliance burden and provide certainty to both consumers and entities that handle their financial data."