Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer's (R-Mo.) is re-introducing legislation Friday that would eliminate the current requirement that financial institutions mail annual privacy notices to all customers explaining information sharing practices, even the policies that have not changed, his office said.

Instead, the Eliminate Privacy Notice Confusion Act, co-sponsored by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), would require banks and credit unions to provide the information only if privacy policies have changed.

A similar version of the bill passed the House in December but was not taken up by the Senate in that session of Congress.

“I was extremely pleased that the House previously supported this legislation to eliminate unnecessary, costly, confusing and often ignored mailings that clog up people's mailboxes and I am hopeful that this new measure will ultimately be approved by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by the president,” Luetkemeyer said.

“Not only will this bill reduce the costs passed onto the customers of banks and credit unions but also will make it more likely that people will pay closer attention to important mailings they receive from their financial institutions because they are receiving fewer,” he said.

CUNA President/CEO Bill Cheney said the streamlined requirement would reduce the amount of diverted time and resources that credit union staff could be using to provide services to members.

NAFCU President/CEO Fred Becker lauded the bill as one of the priorities outlined in his organization's five-point regulatory relief plan.

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