WASHINGTON—Credit unions’ member-centric focus means that they approach consumer regulation differently than other market participants, CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle wrote to the Senate Banking Committee this week.
CUNA sent its letter for the record of the committee’s hearing featuring CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney.
“As the original consumer financial protectors, credit unions are in the marketplace every day offering consumers access to safe and affordable financial services, and they stand ready to work with Congress and the CFPB to ensure that consumers have adequate protections in law and regulation,” the letter reads.
Specifically, the letter outlines in detail how past actions by the CFPB have harmed credit unions’ ability to serve their members, the immediate steps the CFPB should take under its present structure to reset its focus on abusers of consumers, and the statutory reforms necessary to ensure that consumers are well protected in the financial marketplace.
CFPB actions that have significantly impeded credit unions’ ability to serve members include rulemakings on, according to CUNA:
Ability to repay/Qualified Mortgages
- Mortgage servicing
- Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
- Remittances
- Small-dollar lending
CUNA also laid out its vision for the CFPB of the future, which includes:
- A Bureau hold on proposing or finalizing any new regulatory requirements affecting credit unions, unless they are intended to provide relief from prior regulations
- CFPB leadership and staff attention to re-evaluating finalized rules to determine ways to allow the credit union industry to more fully serve its members and provide more access to credit
- CFPB transferring examination and supervision for compliance with consumer protection regulation of all credit unions to NCUA
- Continuation of the Credit Union Advisory Council
- Effective use by the Bureau of its statutory exemption authority, as granted to it by section 1022 of the Dodd-Frank Act