BISMARCK, N.D.–Credit unions jointly hosted Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp as part of a discussion here on regulatory burden.
The Credit Union Association of the Dakotas’ President Jeff Olson and VP of Compliance Amy Kleinschmit attended the meeting, which was held jointly with representatives from the Bank of North Dakota, Independent Community Bankers of North Dakota, and the North Dakota Bankers Association.
Following opening remarks by Sen. Heitkamp, in which she recognized Olson, who had requested this meeting during the Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C., the discussion began. According to the CUAD, Cordray listened at the roundtable that was mainly focused on the mortgage industry, delving briefly into the CFPB’s proposed payday lending/small dollar rule.
“The repeated message from attendees: There are simply too many regulations, not just from the CFPB, but all governmental agencies,” the CUAD reported.
During the meeting attendees told real-life stories of the challenges faced while serving their communities – stressing that no one will help these rural communities in North Dakota except for credit unions and community banks, and the over-regulation is making it harder and harder to do so.
According to the CUAD, Cordray responded by saying the CFPB is here to protect consumers, even from themselves.
These comments were countered by attendees who tried to illustrate how the rules, in some cases, were actually hurting consumers, according to Kleinschmit.
“We appreciate the opportunity to have dialogue with the director, and I applaud and thank Senator Heitkamp for coordinating and leading the discussion,” said Olson. “The biggest takeaway for our credit unions is that we were able to personally share our story and describe in detail how these ‘one-size-fits-all’ rules and regulations negatively impact our ability to serve our members. I thought the director and his staff were very engaged with our participants, and I sincerely appreciate his willingness to listen to our concerns and stories.”
In a statement, the CUAD said that while the meeting allowed North Dakota credit unions to express their concerns once again to director Cordray, the Bureau is still resisting exempting credit unions from the regulations that were designed to rein in the “too-big-to-fail” banks.
“The question remains: Why are credit unions and credit union members being punished when they did nothing wrong in the first place?” the CUAD said.