WASHINGTON—Recommendations to strengthen the BCFP, including reforming the Bureau's leadership structure and placing it under the congressional appropriations process, were supported by lawmakers during a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing this week.
The costs related to BCFP regulations and the implications of the consumer complaint database were also discussed.
The hearing, held by House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, sought ways to improve the transparency and accountability at the Bureau. NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt sent a letter ahead of the hearing outlining NAFCU's recommendations. CUNA also provided a letter.
Throughout the hearing, many subcommittee members argued that the Bureau should be led by a bipartisan commission, rather than a single director, which NAFCU said it has also contended since the BCFP’s formation.
"We have a CFPB that is constructed to shift and sway with political winds," said Rep. David Scott (D-GA), adding that the Bureau should have had a commission structure from the start. He expressed support for the Financial Product Safety Commission Act (HR 5266), introduced by fellow subcommittee members Reps. Dennis Ross (R-FL) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) which Scott said would accomplish that.
Other Issues Raised
In addition, Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-PA) addressed the issue of placing the Bureau under the congressional appropriations process, saying it would ensure consumers have a voice in how it spends its money. Rothfus’ comments came before the BCFP announced it was eliminating its various Councils, including the Credit Union Advisory Council, as CUToday.info reported here http://www.cutoday.info/Fresh-Today/BCFP-Moves-to-Shrink-CU-Advisory-Council-Other-Councils
Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN) highlighted concerns about the Bureau's consumer complaint database, which makes public unverified narratives and has "questionable utility to consumers and is a threat to consumer privacy." Earlier this week, NAFCU urged the Bureau to stop publishing unverified complaints out of similar concerns.
A coalition of state attorneys general, meanwhile, said they want to see the complaint database maintained, as CUToday.info reported here http://www.cutoday.info/Fresh-Today/BCFP-I-Coalition-Of-State-Attorneys-General-Want-Complaints-Database-Retained
The cost of compliance was also discussed during the hearing, with one witness citing an estimate that $30 billion in the financial services industry is used for compliance purposes.