WASHINGTON–CUNA is again urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to use the authority it already has to delegate supervisory responsibilities for credit unions with more than $10-billion in assets.
In a letter to the agency, the trade group said, “We believe credit unions are best positioned to succeed when supervised and examined by a regulator particularly familiar with their unique characteristics, and there is no regulator more familiar with credit unions than NCUA. If NCUA was delegated the authority to conduct consumer protection examinations for credit unions with over $10 billion in assets, then not only would the affected credit unions benefit from reduced duplication and burden in examinations, but the Bureau could reduce its costs or apply the resources it would have used for credit union supervision to other priorities.”
Dodd-Frank Powers
CUNA noted the Dodd-Frank Act, which created the CFPB, also grants it supervisory authority over insured depository institutions with total assets over $10 billion, taking into account:
- The total asset of the class of covered persons
- The volume of transactions involving consumer financial products or services in which the class of covered persons engages
- Existing provisions of the law which are applicable to the financial products or service and the extent to which such provisions provide consumers with adequate protections
Few Complaints About CUs
“Taking these factors into consideration reinforces the Bureau’s ability to use this authority to delegate supervision of credit unions with more than $10 billion in assets to the NCUA,” CUNA said in the letter to CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger.
CUNA added data from the Bureau’s Consumer Complaint Database show credit unions have been subject to 8,336 complaints since the CFPB began accepting consumer complaints, or 0.66% of all complaints submitted. In contrast, each of the five largest banks individually have received more complaints than the entire credit union industry.