The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a rule that would require lenders to report data on small-business lending.
The long-awaited rule, part of a mandate in the Dodd-Frank Act designed to address discrimination, will require lenders beginning next year to collect data on the approval and denial of small-business applications.
Lenders will also have to keep tabs on borrowers’ geographic locations and demographics, along with pricing.
The rule defines small businesses as those with less than $5 million in annual gross revenue. The rule will apply to lenders that make at least 100 small-business loans a year.
Bank and nonbank lenders that make fewer than 100 small-business loans a year are still required to follow to fair lending laws.