WASHINGTON—CUNA has joined with other organizations in sending a letter to Congress supporting the joint resolution to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s arbitration rule.
The Independent Bankers Association of America has also sent a letter of its own calling for the prohibition to be overturned.
As CUToday.info reported, the resolution would use the Congressional Review Act to repeal the rule and prevent the CFPB from issuing any similar rule relating to arbitration. Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-PA) introduced the resolution in their respective chambers.
“The undersigned trade organizations urge Congress to swiftly exercise its oversight authority under the CRA to disapprove of the CFPB’s final arbitration rule,” the letter reads. “Arbitration can ensure that consumers receive faster, more cost-effective, and higher recovery resolutions than offered by class action litigation favored by trial attorneys, and it will be harmful to them if this dispute resolution process is eliminated.”
CUNA and the organizations cited the incompleteness of the CFPB’s arbitration study, the inconsistency of the rule compared with the study’s results, harm to the public interest and the rule’s failure to enhance consumer protection among the reasons why the rule should be repealed.
Meanwhile, the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) has sent letters to Congress in support of Sen. Mike Crapo’s (R-ID) and Rep. Keith Rothfus’ (R-PA) Congressional Review Act resolutions (S.J. Res. 47) and (H.J. Res. 111), respectively, which seek to reverse the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) final ruling restricting the use of consumer arbitration agreements.
“If the CFPB rule stands, exposure to class action litigation expenses, coupled with a rising tide of regulatory compliance costs, will surely contribute to the consolidation trend, which is reshaping the banking industry to the detriment of consumer choice,” ICBA’s President and CEO Camden R. Fine wrote in the letter. “With your support in passing this resolution, the CFPB’s ill-conceived and counterproductive rule can be reversed.”
Community banks invest heavily in resolving customer complaints amicably and on a timely basis, the ICBA said. “However, when a dispute cannot be resolved, a speedy and fair resolution is the best outcome for all parties,” the organization said in a statement.