ARLINGTON, Va.–Congress is being encouraged to ensure that regulatory agencies treat “guidance” as well as regulations “consistently and for the purpose each was issued.”
In a letter to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management, which held a hearing yesterday on “Examining the Use of Agency Regulatory Guidance,” NAFCU’s VP of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler said some NCUA examiners handle guidance as just that—guidance-while others handle it as a regulation.
Meanwhile, regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Thaler noted that rather than issue written guidance, the Bureau has set up a "help line" where financial institutions can receive oral guidance from the CFPB. The problem, Thaler said, are reports of conflicting guidance being given through the help line.
“NAFCU would appreciate the CFPB establishing procedures for institutions to get much needed official written legal advisory opinions to provide clearer guidance,” he wrote. “Setting up such a process within the CFPB would be beneficial to credit unions and other financial institutions.”