WASHINGTON—NAFCU joined with more than a dozen other financial services industry trade groups to offer support for Sen. Deb Fischer's (R-NB) legislation that would reform the CFPB's leadership structure from a single director to a bipartisan commission.
Fischer has previously introduced similar legislation in prior sessions of Congress.
"The current single director structure, as we witnessed in the transition in CFPB leadership from the Obama Administration to the Trump Administration, leads to significant uncertainty within the financial services industry," the groups wrote. "This uncertainty is not only borne by financial institutions providing significant lending services, but it negatively impacts America’s consumers, small businesses, and our local economies. The financial services marketplace thrives in a stable regulatory environment. When regulatory stability is eroded by changing political dynamics, the consumer suffers from financial institutions’ inability to rely upon a consistent regulatory environment."
The introduction of S. 3990 comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to soon issue its decision in the lawsuit brought by Seila Law challenging the CFPB's single-director structure. Prior to the Supreme Court's oral arguments for the case in March, the Bureau announced it would no longer defend its structure after years of lawsuits and calls to reform it from various stakeholders. This case could have implications on the structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), as well, NAFCU noted.
House Financial Services Committee Member Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) introduced similar legislation with other Republican members of the committee in March that would reform the CFPB's governance structure to a bipartisan commission.