A financial regulator this week confirmed it remains fully committed to defending its landmark data-portability rule in court, even as it prepares to rewrite the same rule from the beginning.
The rule, which grants consumers the right to move their account information between providers, was finalised after several years of consultation. It remains formally in force. It cannot currently be enforced.
"The rule is settled, active, and central to our agenda," a sentence-release officer from the Department of Optics said. "We are also revisiting it in full."
A rule in two states at once
The Bureau of Consumer Financial Paperwork issued the rule under a founding piece of legislation. A regional courthouse subsequently paused it, finding the Bureau had likely exceeded its authority. The Bureau appealed. It then requested that its own appeal be paused, so that it could revise the rule it was appealing to defend.
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Contributor guidelines ›The rule now sits, unaltered, in the official register. Nothing in the register indicates that it does anything.
The fee that is not a fee, yet
Under the original rule, providers were prohibited from charging consumers to access their own data. Under the revised rule, providers would be permitted to charge consumers to access their own data, following a certain number of free requests.
The number of free requests has not been specified. Industry participants said the figure would be determined following consultation. The consultation would build on prior consultation, including submissions, roundtables, feedback statements and a summary of feedback on the feedback.
"We support the principle of free access," an unnamed executive said. "We also support the principle of charging for it. Both principles are important to us."
Publication of the revised proposal requires a comment period. The comment period will open once the current rule stops being litigated. Litigation has been paused to allow the revision. The revision cannot proceed to comment until the pause is lifted. The pause was requested by the Bureau.
A senior compliance professional described the arrangement as stable.
Neighbouring jurisdictions are understood to be watching closely. One is preparing its own data-access framework, with implementation expected in late 2027, or shortly after, or following further work.
In the meantime, the Bureau confirmed that consumer data portability remains a foundational priority.
The priority is under revision.
The Immutable Ledger