The League joined with CUNA and our fellow leagues in reaching out via letter to the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee in advance of the committees’ hearings with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra.
“[It] is critical that the regulatory structure to which credit unions are subject enables them to continue meeting the diverse and evolving financial services needs of America’s credit union members,” note the associations in their letters.
“Open and transparent rule-making is a key part of administrative process, but throughout the history of the CFPB, regulated entities and consumers have been subject to midnight press releases of upcoming rules; rule-making based on incomplete data; and enforcement actions based on broad authority,” read the letters. “In addition, the CFPB has tried to influence market behaviors in lieu of formal rule-making. Credit unions support the CFPB protecting consumers and going after bad actors, but overall, we need stability in the marketplace to have the resources necessary to serve our members and innovate. We are concerned we are going down a road that will disrupt more than it will protect.”
The letters also argue that the Bureau has missed many opportunities to leverage credit unions’ mission.
“We encourage the Bureau to consistently engage industry stakeholders in its policy-setting processes. It is impossible for the Bureau to fulfill its mission, ’to make consumer financial markets work for consumers, responsible providers, and the economy as a whole,’ if its leadership does not take the time to hear the concerns and priorities of the entities subject to its rule-making and supervision,” the letter said.
CUNA and the Leagues called out the disproportionate effect that the Bureau’s one-size-fits-all approach to regulation has on financial cooperatives like credit unions, noting the policy’s role in speeding consolidation and reducing consumer access.
Senate Banking Committee
House Financial Services Committee
