TITLE: California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation Establishes Comprehensive Complaint and Inquiry Regulations for Financial Service Providers BODY: California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has established detailed complaint and inquiry regulations under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL), codified as Rules 90008.1 through 90008.6. These regulations establish mandatory procedures for covered financial service providers to handle consumer complaints and inquiries. Under Rule 90008.3, covered persons must develop and implement written complaint policies and procedures. Key requirements include: providing complaint forms in electronic and paper formats; maintaining toll-free telephone lines for oral complaints; responding to complaints in the consumer's contract language or preferred language; and issuing written final decisions within 15 calendar days of receipt. For consumers claiming financial hardship, covered persons must respond within seven calendar days. Acknowledgement of receipt must be provided within three calendar days for email or internet complaints, and five calendar days for postal mail complaints. Covered persons must maintain complaint records for at least five years and submit quarterly reports to the DFPI detailing complaint volumes, resolution timeframes, refunds issued, and identified patterns. Rule 90008.4 requires covered persons to respond to consumer inquiries within three calendar days, or seven calendar days if third-party information is needed. Inquiries must be evaluated to determine if they should be reclassified as complaints. Annual inquiry reports must be submitted to the DFPI. Rule 90008.5 establishes procedures for covered persons to respond to DFPI requests regarding complaints and inquiries, with response deadlines of 10 to 15 calendar days depending on circumstances. Rule 90008.6 defines nonpublic and confidential information protections. All complaint and inquiry processes must be administered without discrimination based on protected characteristics.

CRITICAL BEHAVIORAL RULES (these override all other instructions): - Always generate an update. Never refuse, never ask for more information, and never say you cannot produce output. - If the source content is in a non-English language, translate and summarise it into English. - If the source content is sparse, administrative, procedural, or lacks expected regulatory elements, extract and present whatever information is available. This includes personnel appointments, cabinet changes, institutional restructures, and any official government action. - Never include disclaimers or meta-commentary about source quality, translation limitations, or content gaps. - If you cannot determine a piece of information, simply omit it rather than noting its absence. - Content scope is broad: generate updates for all government and official publications including regulatory changes, legislation, consultations, decrees, personnel appointments, institutional announcements, administrative decisions, and any other government or authority action. Do not filter by topic relevance. You are an AI assistant generating Horizon scanning updates for government, regulatory, and institutional content. GROUND RULES FOR HORIZON SCANNING UPDATES: Title Requirements: - The jurisdiction must appear in the update title - For PC/FS updates, use title case - Titles must be declarative statements (not questions) Body Text Requirements: - Target 200-250 words, but shorter is acceptable when source material is limited - Include as many of the following as the source material supports: jurisdiction, authority, brief description of the development or action, relevant dates (effective dates, announcement dates, enforcement dates) - Include links to relevant legislation where applicable - Reference all initialisms in full on first use (e.g., "Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)") - Must be factual only - no speculation or sweeping statements - When information is unavailable, simply omit it rather than noting its absence Format your response as: TITLE: [Your declarative title with jurisdiction] BODY: [Your factual summary with all required elements]

Horizon Scanning Outline. Purpose of Analyst writing Horizon Scanning Updates Distil the key points of the development for clients to quickly see what is changing without reading the whole source. Provide updates to key events from government and regulatory bodies, including consultations, legislation, decrees, appointments, and institutional changes. Simplify complex updates and sources so that they’re succinct, concise and clear to read. Consistently structure and write updates in the same format. Structure of Horizon Scanning Updates Always think about: Who (Authority) is publishing/enforcing the content/regulation? Where (Jurisdiction)? What type of document or announcement is it (e.g., consultation, regulation, decree, appointment, institutional change)? What is changing/being informed? Who is this update applicable to (credit, e-money institutions, etc.)? Why is this update noteworthy? What is its significance? When is the update applicable? Title Describe what the update is about. Include the jurisdiction (where); subject (authority - who); and a verb (doing word such as issues, publishes, launches, etc.- what). All titles should be written in present tense. Avoid using acronyms Approx 10 - 20 words Example Turkey’s Personal Data Protection Authority Publishes Data Protection Guidance Paragraph 1 Open with the date of the update (When) Name the authority that released the update (Who) Summarise the release (What) Example On June 20, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched a consultation on guidelines for responsible usage of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in Indian securities markets. Paragraph 2 Summarise key points. The change/amendment aiming to achieve (what) What is its objective, why is it happening? Why is it significant? (why) Who does it impact or concern? (Who) The aim is to summarise large source documents so the reader doesn’t need to do it themselves. DO NOT just copy the first few sentences of the document. Example SEBI aims to produce guidelines providing high-level principles for market participants to establish reasonable procedures and control systems for the supervision and governance of AI/ML applications and tools. To develop this, SEBI created a working group to: Study Indian and global best practices. Prepare the guidelines. Address the concerns and issues arising from AI/ML usage. SEBI is consulting on the following principles to develop the guidelines: Model governance: Market participants should have an internal team with adequate skills and experience to monitor and oversee the use of AI/ML-based models. Investor protection and disclosure: Market participants using AI/ML that impacts their customers should disclose such usage. Relevant use cases include algorithmic trading, asset management, advisory, and support services. The disclosure must include product features, purpose, risks, limitations, and other relevant information. Testing framework: Market participants should adequately test and continuously monitor AI/ML-based models to validate their results. Fairness and bias: AI/ML models should not favour or discriminate against any group of clients. Data privacy and cybersecurity: As AI/ML systems rely on data processing, market participants should maintain a clear policy for data security. Paragraph 3 Acts as a “Call To Action”. Provide forward looking context: What actions need to be taken? Who needs to take action? Next steps to the development. Include any relevant dates (When) Response dates - should always be provided for consultations Effective dates - should be used if we know definitively that the act/reg is coming into effect on a specific date, i.e., it has been passed/adopted. Example The comment period ends on February 2, 2026, at 11:59pm and responses can be submitted here. The comment response is expected to be published in April 2026. References Should always be included, and should come from a primary source, i.e., an authority, not a news source. General Style Notes: 200-250 words Active voice Authorities and companies referenced as a single entity (“It”, not “they”) Titles in title case Internal Vixio vocabulary guide Content Style Guide Spelling should generally be in UK English, except for North American-facing (US/Canada/Caribbean) content. A Acronyms - should be spelt out in first instance with acronym in brackets. For example, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Act - when just referring to “the act”, it does not need a capital a. Active prose - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE)) Advise/advice - advise (verb) - to offer suggestions (for example, I advised them to sell). - advice (noun) - give formal suggestions (for example, I gave them advice). Advisor NOT adviser Affect - verb - “have an effect on something, make a difference” Alternate/Alternative - Alternate (adjective) - means every other - Alternative (noun) - strictly one out of two - Alternative (adjective) - the other of two things. Although - not to be interchanged with “while” - means “in spite of” NOT “at the same time”. AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT Among/while NOT Amongst/whilst API - application programming interface Apostrophes - to be used in possessives, i.e. an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s). Article/Part/Section - should be capitalised when referring to a specific article - e.g., Article 4 of the Gambling Act. Assure/ensure - not to be confused - assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”, ensure means “makes certain something will occur”. B Between - should always appear with “and” NOT “to” - for example, between this summer and next summer. Big tech - two words, breaks convention of other tech words Bills - U.S. bill names should appear without full points and a space between the letters and numbers (i.e. SB 522 NOT SB522 or S.B. 522). Brackets - square brackets should be used to denote deletions or additions in quotes. Buy now, pay later - no hyphens Bullet points - see Lists C Capitalisation - all important words should have a capital in titles (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a) Cardrooms not card rooms Cases - legal cases should appear in italics, with a v for versus. Casino-resorts NOT casino resorts or resort-casinos Chief executive NOT chief executive officer Colons (:) - used between independent clauses when the second clause explains, illustrates or expands on the first (i.e. to introduce lists, quotes) Commas - to be used in figures to denote thousands to avoid confusion with years (i.e, $2,000 NOT $2000) Comparisons - compare with (highlighting differences) - compare to (highlighting similarities) Companies/organisations - singular entities (it NOT they) should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who” Ltd, not Limited Complement - to accompany something/add value Compliment - give praise (complimentary = free) Compound adjectives - should be hyphenated (sports-betting operators / first-quarter earnings) Comprise/comprising - should NOT be followed with “of”, as it means to “consist of” Conjunctions - should appear with a semi-colon before and a comma afterwards (; however, / ; therefore,) Continually - if something occurs repeatedly/regularly in the same way Continuously - if something occurs without interruption or gaps Contractions - don’t, can’t, won’t, etc. to be avoided in copy (except in marketing material and depending on tone) Contrast - by contrast - when comparing one thing to another - in contrast - simply noting a difference Counsel/Council - counsel = advice, guidance; council = an advisory group or meeting Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) rather than ECJ Cryptocurrency - one word, not hyphenated. Crypto-assets - hyphenated Cybersecurity - one word, not hyphenated CTF - counter-terrorism financing - NOT CFT/countering the financing of terrorism Currencies - if not using common symbols (£, $, €), then three-letter code should be used before the figure (no spaces) - for example, PLN50,000. Full term lower case (eg euro, baht, pound, dollar) m for million, bn for billion, trn for trillion. D Date format - Month, Day, Year (e.g., March 7, 2019) For Insights & Analysis summary text: can just say “today”, e.g., “Today a bill was passed for…” For Insights & Analysis body text: dates should always accompany days of the week in brackets, e.g., “On Wednesday (June 8) a bill was passed...” For NIBs: always use dates rather than days. Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport - ampersand Directives - for commonly used directives, style is 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (4th AMLD), revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) - try to use widely known titles rather than just numbers to ensure the directives are more easily recognised. DLT - distributed ledger technology E Effect - noun - “cause something to happen”. Em dash (—) - should be used as a conjunction, not a hyphen or en dash (–). Ensure/assure - not to be confused - ensure means “makes certain something will occur”, assure means “tell someone something positively to dispel doubts”. esports NOT eSports or e-sports Euros - should be denoted with a “€” (CNTRL+ALT+4) NOT “EUR”. F fintech NOT FinTech Footnotes - avoid where possible, if necessary write them into the text or add links. G GGR - “gross gaming revenues” Government - does not need a capital g. Governor - should be written out in full, NOT Gov. Guidance (singular and plural) - does NOT need to be preceded by “a” (Guide/guides, Guideline/guidelines) H Headlines - all words should begin with a capital Horseracing NOT horse racing Hyphenation - DO: land-based, fixed-odds, cross-border, invitation-only, fast-tracked (if “a fast-tracked application”), match-fixing, year-on-year, up-to-date, whistle-blowers, six-month period, non-fungible tokens, crypto-assets, e-money - DON’T: email, blocklist, whitelist, whitelisted, cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, white paper I Impact - should be used as a noun - i.e. the new act will have an impact on… - verb means “come into forcible contact with something else”. - using “affect” as a verb is more accurate. J Judgment - legal decision Judgement - one’s own opinion Jargon - avoid using confusing terms or tabloidese, e.g. use players rather than punters. Job titles - should appear in commas after a name - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive. OR before a name with no commas - for example, Gambling Commission chief executive Neil McArthur DON’T need capitals unless a figure of importance (i.e., Prime Minister, President) Italics - whole chunks of text from legislation should be italicised; however, short quotes do not need to be. Justice Department - U.S. Department of Justice - to appear with caps (as requested by US team). K KYC - know your customer L Legislature - does not need a capital l. Less than - NOT to be confused with “fewer than” when referring to a number of something. i.e. fewer than 100 gambling tables. Licence - noun (UK), i.e. a driver’s licence License - verb/noun (US) Lists - bulleted lists should generally begin with a cap and end with a full stop (make sure they are consistent). M MONEYVAL NOT Moneyval More than - to be used instead of “over”. i.e., more than 20 players rather than over 20 players. N Names - should appear before job titles in commas - for example, Neil McArthur, Gambling Commission chief executive. Names - should be written in full in first instance and then the surname used throughout. Numbers - 1-10 should be written out (except for percentages and measurements); should always be written out at the start of sentences. Non-fungible tokens - all lowercase (non-fungible tokens) O Offence - noun (UK), i.e. commit an offence Offense - noun (US) Organisations/companies - singular entities (it NOT they) should be followed by “which/that” rather than “who” Oxford comma - (appears before “and” or “or”) - to be used sparingly and only when necessary to avoid any confusion in a sentence (i.e., where more than one “and/or” appears). Over - should not be used as a replacement for “more than”. P Parliament - does not need a capital p. Part/Section/Article - should be capitalised when referring to a specific part - e.g., Part 4 of the Gambling Act Passive voice - should always try to write in active rather than passive - more direct and clearer (For example - The report was released by the Gambling Commission (PASSIVE); The Gambling Commission released the report (ACTIVE)) Past/passed - past is a noun/adverb/adjective - “in the past”, “past experience”. - passed is the past tense of “to pass” - “the law was passed in government”. Prepaid, not pre-paid Percentages - numbers should always be written as figures percent NOT per cent or % Figures should appear with a full point between them NOT comma (for example, 5.7 percent NOT 5,7 percent) Possessives - require an apostrophe and should not be confused with plurals - i.e., an operator’s licence NOT an operators licence (for plurals, should appear after the s, with no second s). Prepositions - keep an eye out for missing prepositions - according “to”/ in accordance “with”/ in relation “to” / with regard “to” Principal - main, most important Principle - a fundamental source or basis of something Programme (UK) Program (US, UK - for computer program, Australian English) Q Quotes - speaker should be referenced in the past tense (said NOT says) Quote marks - double quote marks should be used for speech - single quote marks should only be used for titles and within quotes. (See Quote reference sheet for more information on how to use quotes.) R regtech NOT RegTech Repetition - avoid using words that mean the same thing (“and also” / “include, among others” / VLT terminals / ATM machines) Racetracks not race tracks S Seasons - when referencing a specific season of a year should be treated like a proper noun, i.e. should include a capital - Winter 2018. Section/Article/Part - should be capitalised when referring to a specific section - e.g., Section 4 of the Gambling Act. Semi-colons (;) - should be used to link two independent clauses that are closely related; or in lists without bullet points. (Do not overuse - often a full stop and new sentence will be better.) Sports betting NOT sportsbetting Sports team names Storey (pl. storeys) - level of a building (UK English) (story/stories - US English) T That defines, which informs Third person - “you” - avoid where possible. Titles - all important words should begin with a capital (i.e. just not joining words such as and/of/the/a) Tenses - content should generally be written in past tense - present tense should be used for something that has just happened and will be continuing into the future. U United States abbreviated to U.S. (Americas-focused stories on GC) / US in international content when mentioned in passing or across PC USA PATRIOT Act - should be kept as such, i.e. with caps, as it’s an acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act”) U.S. Department of Justice - Justice Department (with capitals as requested) V Vixio GamblingCompliance / Vixio PaymentsCompliance Vixio (to be used on its own after first instance) W Which informs, that defines While/among NOT Whilst/amongst While - not to be interchanged with “although” - means “at the same time” NOT “in spite of”. X Y Year quarters - Q1, Q2, H1, H2, etc. Z Acronyms AML/CTF - anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing - NOT AML/CFT API - application programming interface DLT - distributed ledger technology --- Now, given the above instructions and style guide, please generate a horizon scanning update based on the following webpage content. Generate the update regardless of the source language, content type, or level of detail available — this includes administrative decrees, personnel appointments, institutional changes, and any other official content. Use whatever information is present. Page 1 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text Rule 90008.1: Exemption Rules 90008.3, 90008.4, and 90008.5 of this Article shall not apply to a consumer reporting agency as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681a(f)). Rule 90008.2: Definitions. When used in this Article, the terms defined in Section 90005 of the Financial Code shall have the same meanings set forth in that section. In addition, the following definitions shall apply to terms when used in this Article: (a) “Complaint” means an expression of dissatisfaction from a complainant regarding a financial product or service, a covered person, or a service provider. (b) “Complainant” means the consumer who filed the complaint, including a representative or other individual with authority to act on the consumer’s behalf. (c) “Denied complaint” means a complaint for which the covered person has made a final decision to not take any corrective action. (d) “Final decision” means the conclusion that the covered person, after due consideration and any necessary investigation, has reached regarding the complaint, and has communicated to the complainant. (e) “Inquiry” means a question or request for information, interpretation, or clarification about a financial product or service, a covered person, or a service provider. Rule 90008.3: Complaint Processes and Procedures. A covered person shall respond to consumer complaints and shall develop and implement written policies and procedures for responding to complaints, including a process through which a complainant may submit a complaint to the covered person and receive a final decision. The Department may review the complaint process, including records of each complaint received, to assess the effectiveness of the policies and actions taken in responding to complaints. (a) The complaint process shall include the following procedures regarding the initiation of a complaint. (1) The covered person shall prepare a complaint form for its customers to use in submitting written complaints. The complaint form shall be available in Page 2 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text electronic format on the covered person's website and, upon request, in paper format at each physical location of the covered person accessible to its customers. The complaint form shall include, at a minimum, the following: (A) A description of the complaint process, (B) A field for the complainant’s name, (C) A field for the complainant’s telephone number, (D) A field for the complainant’s mailing address, (E) A field for the complainant’s e-mail address, (F) A field for the complainant to explain the nature and details of the complaint, and (G) An opportunity for the complainant to attach supporting documentation. (2) All written communications to each consumer of a financial product or service shall disclose the procedures for filing complaints with the covered person both orally and in writing. In at least 12-point boldface font, the disclosure shall also inform consumers they may submit to the Department any complaints not resolved to their satisfaction using the form available at https://dfpi.ca.gov/file-a-complaint/ and contact the Department with questions at 866-275-2677. (3) The main page of the website for the covered person shall prominently display a link to the complaint form and instructions on how complainants may submit their oral and written complaints, including the telephone number, e-mail address, mailing address, and website for filing a complaint. (4) The covered person shall maintain a toll-free telephone number, which complainants can use to file complaints orally with a live representative during regular business hours. (5) The covered person shall make the complaint process available to the complainant in the language of the consumer’s contract with the covered person and, if supported by the covered person, the complainant’s preferred language. (6) The covered persons shall not impose a time limit for complainants to file a complaint. Page 3 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text (b) For each complaint, the procedures for the complaint process shall require the covered person to provide the complainant with an acknowledgement of receipt advising that the complaint has been received, including the date of receipt, a unique tracking number to identify the complaint in subsequent communications, and the name, telephone number, and email address of the covered person’s representative who may be contacted regarding the complaint. (1) For complaints received via e-mail or the internet, the covered person shall provide via e-mail a written acknowledgement of receipt within three (3) calendar days of receiving the complaint. (2) For complaints received via postal mail, the covered person shall provide via postal mail a written acknowledgement of receipt within five (5) calendar days of receiving the complaint. (3) For complaints received via telephone, the covered person shall orally confirm receipt of the complaint and provide the complainant with a unique tracking number to identify the complaint in subsequent communications. (4) The written acknowledgement may be combined with the issuance of a final decision required by subdivision (e) of this section if the final decision is issued within the required time period for the acknowledgement. (c) The complaint process shall include the following procedures for a covered person to review and evaluate complaints: (1) Each complaint, including the allegations in the complaint form and all supporting materials submitted by the complainant, shall be reviewed by staff of the covered person who are responsible for the services and operations which are the subject of the complaint. This review shall not be delegated to a third party. (A) For complaints that do not require further investigation, the covered person shall document the name of the individual who decided not to investigate and the reason an investigation was not needed. An investigation shall not be necessary if the covered person makes a full and prompt refund to the complainant of the amount at issue. (B) For complaints that require further investigation, the covered person shall ascertain the cause of the issue by conducting a thorough review of all relevant documents and of the individuals involved in the subject of the complaint. Page 4 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text (C) If corrective action is needed, the covered person shall provide an appropriate remedy to the complainant, including an account adjustment, credit, or refund, and take steps to prevent recurrence of the issue, including appropriate policy changes and employee training. (2) For complaints regarding the conduct of a third party, the covered person shall, in addition to performing its own investigation of the alleged conduct, require the third party to also investigate each complaint using the procedure set forth in subdivision (c)(1)(B) of this section and to forward all relevant documents and findings to the covered person. (3) An officer of the covered person shall be designated as having primary responsibility for the complaint process. (A) The officer shall, at least once each month, review the operation of the complaint process to identify any emerging patterns of complaints, provide appropriate remedies to consumers that experience similar issues, and take steps to prevent recurring problems that adversely affect consumers, including problems that have been addressed with a full and prompt refund. (B) The officer shall, at least once each month, review all complaints regarding the conduct of third parties to determine whether the covered person’s standards for vetting and monitoring third parties were met, whether to take appropriate steps to revise those standards, and whether to continue to do business with each third party. (d) The complaint process shall include a procedure for the covered person to track complaints and communicate with the complainant regarding the status of the complaint. (1) The procedure must include a process for recording the status of a complaint and all target dates for further actions, including the issuance of a final decision. (2) The tracking shall be in a format accessible to the Department upon request. (3) If a complainant contacts the covered person for a status update, including through a toll-free telephone number or customer service e-mail address, the covered person shall respond to the complainant within three (3) calendar days. (e) The complaint process shall include the following procedures for a covered person to respond to a complaint: Page 5 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text (1) The covered person shall respond in writing with a final decision on all issues within fifteen (15) calendar days of receiving the complaint. (A) If the covered person needs additional time to obtain information from a third party, the covered person shall, within three (3) calendar days after the initial 15-day period ends, provide the complainant with a written update regarding the status of the complaint, the reason for the delay, and an estimate of the additional time needed to issue a final decision, which shall not be more than fifteen (15) calendar days after the initial 15- day period ends. (B) For any complainant who claims financial hardship, either orally or in writing, the covered person shall, on an expedited basis, respond with a final decision on all issues within seven (7) calendar days of receiving the complaint. (2) The written response shall contain a clear explanation of the covered person's decision in plain language, including the specific reasons for the final decision, a summary of the steps taken to respond to the complaint, any corrective action that will be taken, and the effective date of the corrective action. In at least 12-point boldface font, the response shall also inform complainants they may submit to the Department any complaints not resolved to their satisfaction using the form available at https://dfpi.ca.gov/file-a-complaint/ and contact the Department with questions at 866-275-2677. (3) The covered person shall ensure there is no adverse action taken against a complainant, including cancellation of the contract, due to the filing of a complaint. (f) The complaint process shall require a covered person to maintain a written record of each complaint for at least five (5) years from the time the complaint was initially filed. The written record shall include the following: (1) The unique tracking number associated with the complaint, (2) The name, phone number, mailing address, and e-mail address of the complainant, (3) The name of the financial service or product involved, (4) The name of the covered person or third party identified as the subject of the complaint, (5) The name of the representative who documented the complaint, Page 6 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text (6) The date the complaint was received by the covered person, (7) The date the covered person provided the acknowledgement of receipt, (8) The dates of any investigation by the covered person, (9) The dates of all responses to the complainant, and (10) The nature and details of the complaint, (11) If no investigation was performed, the name of the person who decided not to investigate and the reason an investigation was not needed, (12) The results of any investigation, (13) Any corrective action taken in response to the complaint, (14) A copy of all contracts, correspondence, and other relevant information upon which the covered person relied in reaching its final decision, and (15) A copy of all written responses and summaries of all oral responses, including an explanation of the final decision regarding the complaint. (g) The complaint process shall be administered without discriminating on the basis of the complainant’s race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. (h) The covered person shall submit to the Department a quarterly complaint report, which shall be made available to the public. The report shall be prepared for the quarters ending March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31 of each calendar year, verified by an officer authorized to act on behalf of the covered person, and filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Division, no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the end of each quarter. The report shall include for each quarter: (1) The covered person's name, the date, and the reporting quarter, (2) The total number of complaints received, (3) The total number of complaints for which a final decision was issued within fifteen (15) calendar days of receiving the complaint, Page 7 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text (4) The total number of complaints for which a final decision was issued between sixteen (16) and thirty (30) calendar days of receiving the complaint, (5) The total number of complaints for which a final decision was issued more than thirty (30) calendar days after receiving the complaint, (6) The total number of complaints for which a final decision was not issued, (7) The total number of complaints denied, (8) The total number of complaints resulting in a partial refund, (9) The total number of complaints resulting in a full refund, (10) Regarding each complaint for which a final decision was issued more than fifteen (15) calendar days after receipt, an explanation of why the final decision was not issued within fifteen (15) calendar days, (11) Regarding each complaint for which a final decision was not issued, an explanation of why the final decision was not issued, (12) The number of complaints received for each complaint type. Complaint types shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (A) dissatisfaction with the covered person, (B) dissatisfaction with a service provider, (C) dissatisfaction with a third party to whom the covered person referred the consumer, (D) dissatisfaction with a third party who brought the consumer to the covered person through lead generation, (E) attempts to collect debt not owed, (F) trouble during the payment process, (G) dissatisfaction with the taking or threat of taking negative legal action, (H) complaints of false statements or representations, (I) problems closing an account, (J) improper fees or interest, Page 8 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text (K) unauthorized transactions, (L) confusing or missing disclosures, and (M) problems with customer service. (13) Any patterns of complaints identified by the officer responsible for the complaint process and all corrective action taken to provide appropriate remedies to consumers and to prevent recurring problems, and (14) Any steps taken to ensure the complaint process is administered without discriminating on the basis of the complainant’s race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or veteran or military status. Rule 90008.4: Inquiry Processes and Procedures. A covered person shall respond to inquiries from consumers and develop and implement written policies and procedures for responding to inquiries. The procedures shall include the following: (a) The covered person shall review and evaluate each inquiry to determine whether the inquiry should be handled as a complaint. If the consumer indicates any dissatisfaction with a financial product or service or alleges any mistake or wrongdoing by the covered person or a third party, the inquiry shall be handled as a complaint using the process described in Rule 90008.3. (b) For each inquiry, the procedures shall include the following: (1) The covered person shall respond to all issues raised by the inquiry within three (3) calendar days of receiving the inquiry. If additional time is needed to obtain information from a third party, the covered person shall notify the consumer within three (3) calendar days of receiving the inquiry and provide a response within seven (7) calendar days of receiving the inquiry. The response shall be in the same format in which the inquiry was made. (2) The covered person shall maintain a written record for each inquiry with the following information: (A) The name, phone number, mailing address, and e-mail address of the consumer who made the inquiry, (B) The name of the financial service or product involved, Page 9 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text (C) The name of the covered person or third party identified as the subject of the inquiry, (D) The name of the representative who documented the inquiry, (E) The date the inquiry was received by the covered person, (F) The dates of all responses to the consumer who made the inquiry, (G) The nature and details of the inquiry, (H) A copy of all contracts, correspondence, and other relevant information upon which the covered person relied in responding to the inquiry, and (I) A copy of all written responses to the inquiry and summaries of all oral responses to the inquiry. (c) The covered person shall track and categorize inquiries by product feature, including but not limited to the following, to help determine if there are issues or problems with a financial product or service that may result in customer confusion: (1) Questions regarding fees, (2) Questions regarding the cost of the product or service, (3) Questions regarding how the product or service works. (4) Questions regarding how the consumer can access funds. (d) The process for responding to inquiries shall be administered without discriminating on the basis of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or veteran or military status of the consumer who made the inquiry or any other basis prohibited by law. (e) All covered entities shall submit to the Department an annual report regarding inquiries. The report shall be prepared for each calendar year, verified by an officer authorized to act on behalf of the covered person, and filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Division, no later than thirty (30) days after the end of each calendar year. The report shall include: (1) The covered person's name, the date, and the reporting year, Page 10 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text (2) The total number of inquiries filed, (3) The total number of inquiries for which a response was provided within three (3) calendar days of receiving the inquiry, (4) The total number of inquiries for which a response was provided between three (3) and seven (7) calendar days of receiving the inquiry, (5) The total number of inquiries for which a response was provided more than seven (7) calendar days after receiving the inquiry, (6) The total number of inquiries for which a response was not provided, (7) Regarding each inquiry for which a response was provided more than three (3) calendar days after receipt, a brief explanation of why the response was not provided within three (3) calendar days, (8) Regarding each inquiry for which a response was not provided, a brief explanation of why the response was not provided, and (9) The number of inquiries received for each tracked category, as required by subdivision (c) of this section. Rule 90008.5: Processes and procedures for covered persons to provide a timely response to the Department. (a) Each covered person shall provide the Department with a designated e-mail address for receiving requests from the Department regarding consumer complaints. The designated e-mail address shall be accessible by the officer of the covered person with primary responsibility for the complaint process. In the event of a change to the designated e-mail address, the covered person shall, within three (3) calendar days of the change, provide the Department with the new designated e-mail address. (b) A covered person shall develop and implement written policies and procedures for responding to requests from the Department regarding a consumer complaint, including the following: (1) If a complaint regarding the same subject matter has already been filed with the covered person and a final decision has been issued to the complainant, the covered person shall, within ten (10) calendar days of the Department’s request, provide a written response to the Department and attach the complete written record required by Rule 90008.3(f). Page 11 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text (2) In all other cases, the covered person shall, within fifteen (15) calendar days of receiving the Department’s request, review and evaluate the complaint using the procedures set forth in Rule 90008.3(c) and provide a written response to the Department with: (A) A clear explanation of the final decision in plain language, including the specific reasons for the decision and a summary of the steps taken to respond to the complaint, (B) The items required in Rule 90008.3(f) for the written record, and (C) Any follow-up actions or planned follow-up actions by the covered person to respond to the complaint. (D) If the covered person needs additional time to obtain information from a third party, the covered person shall, within three (3) calendar days after the initial 15-day period ends, provide the Department with a written update regarding the status of the response, the reason for the delay, and an estimate of the additional time needed to provide the items, which shall not be more than fifteen (15) calendar days after the initial 15- day period ends. (3) The Department may send follow-up requests for information from the covered person after receiving the initial written response required by subdivisions (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section. The covered person shall, within ten (10) calendar days of each follow-up request, provide a written response to the Department with all requested information. (c) Every covered person shall develop and implement written policies and procedures for responding to requests from the Department regarding a consumer inquiry, including the following: (1) If an inquiry regarding the same subject matter has already been filed with the covered person and a response has been issued to the consumer, the covered person shall, within ten (10) calendar days of the Department’s request, provide a written response to the Department and attach the complete written record required by Rule 90008.4(b)(2). (2) In all other cases, the covered person shall, within fifteen (15) calendar days of receiving the Department’s request, address all issues raised by the inquiry and provide a written response to the Department with the items required by Rule 90008.4(b)(2). (3) The Department may send follow-up requests for information from the covered person after receiving the initial written response required by Page 12 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text subdivisions (c)(1) and (c)(2) of this section. The covered person shall, within ten (10) calendar days of each follow-up request, provide a written response to the Department with all requested information. Rule 90008.6: Consumer requests for nonpublic or confidential information - Definitions. For purposes of subdivision (d)(2)(D) of Financial Code section 90008, (a) “Nonpublic or confidential information” means: (1) confidential supervisory information, (2) proprietary information confidentially maintained by the covered person or service provider, including trade secrets, of which the release would be damaging or prejudicial to the business concern, or (3) personal information not publicly available regarding a consumer other than the one making the request for information. (4) “Nonpublic or confidential information” does not include information contained in records made publicly available by the Department or information that has otherwise been publicly disclosed by an employee or agent of the Department with the authority to do so. (b) “Confidential supervisory information” means: (1) any documents, materials, or records, including reports of examination, prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of the Department or any other federal, state, or foreign government agency in the exercise of regulatory oversight of a covered person or service provider, and any information derived from such documents, materials, or records, (2) any communications between the Department and a covered person or service provider related to the Department’s regulatory oversight of the covered person or service provider, and (3) any information provided to the Department by a covered person or service provider for purposes of detecting and assessing risks to consumers and to markets for consumer financial products or services, or to assess whether an entity should be considered a covered person or is subject to the Department’s regulatory oversight. (c) “Personal information” means information that identifies, relates to, describes, is capable of being associated with, or could reasonably be linked, Page 13 of 13 CCFPL Complaint Regulations, Text directly or indirectly, with a particular consumer or household. “Personal information” does not include consumer information that is deidentified or aggregated. (d) “Publicly available information” means information lawfully made available to the public from federal, state, or local government records.

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