On April 25, 2023 the CFPB, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, the EEOC and the FTC issued a joint statement pledging to enforce existing civil-rights and consumer-protection laws against discriminatory outcomes from automated systems and AI. The CFPB's contribution identified black-box credit models, algorithmic marketing and 'digital redlining' as enforcement priorities and reiterated that advanced technology is not an excuse for lawbreaking. The statement was not among the guidance withdrawn in May 2025, but the Bureau's April 2026 Regulation B rule removed the disparate-impact theory on which much of it relied.
| Document | Joint Statement on Automated Systems (CFPB, DOJ, EEOC, FTC) — Joint Statement on Enforcement Efforts Against Discrimination and Bias in Automated Systems |
| Issued by | Consumer Financial Protection Bureau |
| Type | Guidance |
| Status | Final |
| Published | Apr 25, 2023 |
| Applies to | All entities within the four agencies' jurisdictions, including lenders, servicers and consumer-facing financial firms using automated decision systems |
| Official source | consumerfinance.gov ↗ |
| Use cases | Fair lending & discrimination · Credit scoring & underwriting · AI governance (general) |
What are the key points of Joint Statement on Automated Systems (CFPB, DOJ, EEOC, FTC)?
- Four agencies commit to applying existing law (ECOA, FCRA, Title VII, FTC Act, civil-rights statutes) to automated systems.
- Identifies sources of bias: unrepresentative or skewed data, opacity of models, and design choices made without regard to context.
- CFPB priorities: opaque algorithms in credit decisions, algorithmic marketing and advertising, digital redlining, abusive AI uses that obscure product features, repeat offenders, and whistleblower reports from tech workers.
- Director Chopra: regulators must 'stay ahead' of AI growth to prevent discriminatory outcomes.
- Statement PDF: files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_joint-statement-enforcement-against-discrimination-bias-automated-systems_2023-04.pdf
What did Joint Statement on Automated Systems (CFPB, DOJ, EEOC, FTC) change for banks?
It aligned four federal enforcers on the principle that no new law was needed to police AI discrimination and put banks' marketing and underwriting algorithms on notice. With disparate-impact liability under ECOA eliminated by the CFPB in 2026, the statement's practical force for lenders now rests on intentional-discrimination theories, FCRA and state law.
Is the 2023 joint statement on automated systems still in effect?
It has not been formally withdrawn and remains on the CFPB site, but the disparate-impact theory it emphasized was removed from Regulation B by the April 2026 final rule, effective July 21, 2026.
| Date | Document | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 22, 2026 | Regulation B final rule on disparate impact (April 2026) — Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B) — final rule amending disparate impact, discouragement and special purpose credit program provisions | In force |
| May 12, 2025 | CFPB withdrawal of 67 guidance documents (May 2025) — Interpretive Rules, Policy Statements, and Advisory Opinions; Withdrawal | In force |
| Aug 12, 2024 | CFPB comment to Treasury on AI in financial services (2024) — CFPB Comment on Request for Information on Uses, Opportunities, and Risks of Artificial Intelligence in the Financial Services Sector | Final |
| Sep 19, 2023 | CFPB Circular 2023-03 — Adverse action notification requirements and the proper use of the CFPB's sample forms provided in Regulation B | Withdrawn |
| Jun 6, 2023 | CFPB Chatbots in Consumer Finance (issue spotlight, 2023) — Chatbots in consumer finance | Final |
| May 26, 2022 | CFPB Circular 2022-03 — Adverse action notification requirements in connection with credit decisions based on complex algorithms | Withdrawn |
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