June 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. consumer financial watchdog

agency on Monday announced the creation of a public database to

identify nonbank financial companies caught violating consumer

laws, saying it would help catch and deter corporate repeat

offenders.

New regulations require debt collectors, mortgage and payday

lenders, credit reporting companies and other nonbank financial

services companies, many of which are not otherwise registered

or licensed, to inform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

(CFPB) of actions taken against them at the federal, state and

local level, the agency said.

"Too many American families and businesses have been harmed

by repeat offenders in a rinse repeat cycle of illegal activity

where bad actors see fines and penalties as just the cost of

doing business," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra told reporters.

"The registry is going to help the CFPB and other law

enforcement agencies monitor and track repeat offenders in order

to better hold them accountable if they break the law."

CFPB officials say the new registry, first proposed in late

2022, continues an agency push to fight corporate recidivism

following the creation that year of a Repeat Offender Unit

within its supervision program.

The database will be partly available to the public online

and should also be used by state attorneys general and other

regulators as well as investors and creditors performing due

diligence, according to the agency statement.

Agency officials said on Monday that they modified their

original proposal in light of some industry feedback. For

example, companies that already have enforcement actions

recorded in a nationwide licensing system for nonbank mortgage

lenders will be able to use a simplified filing process.

However, trade organizations also objected to provisions

that appear to remain in the new regulation, including a

requirement for senior executives to attest in writing that a

given company is in compliance with existing court orders and

enforcement actions.

The Electronic Transactions Association, members of which

include Amazon.com ( AMZN ), Apple ( AAPL ) and JPMorgan Chase ( JPM )

, last year urged the CFPB to allow appeals and

de-listing, but bureau officials said on Monday they had not

instituted such procedures.

The first corporate registrations are expected in January of

2025.