Credit bureaus to get federal oversight for first time

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7. 'About 30 such companies

that take in more than $7 million each year will be subject to federal supervision under the CFPB's new rule. . .

It was the agency's first proposed rule under its authority to regulate "larger participants" in consumer financial markets.

Cordray said at the time that those industries were chosen because of the increased role they are playing in consumers' lives after the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

The CFPB said there are about 400 consumer reporting agencies in the United States, but the 30 companies it plans to oversee take in about 94 percent of the sector's annual revenue. The largest companies in the industry are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

The companies will face reviews of compliance systems and procedures and on-site examinations, and they will have to produce reports for regulators, the CFPB said.

The agency said consumer reporting to date has been subject only to law enforcement authority at the federal level, with several agencies sharing responsibilities for writing rules.

This meant no single federal agency could fully see how the companies operated. The three largest issue more than 3 billion reports each year and keep files on more than 200 million Americans, according to the CFPB.

The watchdog also will post questions and answers about credit reporting on its website (http://www.consumerfinance.gov/)to help consumers determine what to look for in credit reports and how to dispute errors.'

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/07/16/business/16reuters-financial-regulation-cfpb.html?hp