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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday asked a Kentucky federal judge to stay an industry lawsuit challenging the agency's small-business lender reporting requirements, saying a largely identical challenge filed earlier in Texas should take precedence. In a motion to U.S. District Judge Karen K. Caldwell, the CFPB argued the lawsuit brought by the Kentucky Bankers Association and eight Kentucky-based banks should wait for the "first-filed" litigation that the Texas Bankers Association and the American Bankers Association are leading in Texas federal court. Both cases seek to overturn the CFPB's so-called Section 1071 rule, which established new requirements for banks and other lenders to report comprehensive data to the agency on their small-business lending activity. The rule was supposed to begin phasing in this year but has been delayed amid the litigation. Although the two lawsuits involve different sets of named plaintiffs, the CFPB said they involve "almost exactly the same claims, against the same rule." Many of the Kentucky bank plaintiffs are also members of one of the industry groups — the Independent Community Bankers of America — that have joined in on the Texas case as intervenors, according to the agency. "This case should be stayed pending resolution of overlapping litigation in Texas in which some of the same plaintiffs seek the same relief with respect to the same regulation, under the same legal theories, and against the same defendants," the CFPB told Judge Caldwell in its motion. "Pausing this case to await resolution of the first-filed action is appropriate in order to conserve judicial resources by minimizing duplicative or piecemeal litigation, and protect the parties and the courts from the possibility of conflicting results," the agency added. The CFPB noted that the Texas lawsuit is also "significantly further along," with summary judgment briefing due to wrap up in the coming days. "Holding this case to await resolution of the Texas litigation would promote judicial economy and the efficient resolution of this case by, among other things, allowing the court and the parties here to determine what relief remains available and to whom," the agency said. The stay request comes amid a broader ramping up of activity at the CFPB in the wake of its recent victory at the U.S. Supreme Court, where the justices last month ruled the agency's funding structure does not violate a provision in the Constitution that requires Congress to authorize all federal spending.