WASHINGTON—In advance of several congressional hearings here this week, both CUNA and NAFCU have sent letters to the respective committees. Among those letters:
FCC Oversight & ‘Onerous’ TCPA Order
CUNA President and CEO Jim Nussle sent a letter to House Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology in advance of its hearing Tuesday on FCC Oversight.
In the letter Nussle noted that credit unions need relief from the “onerous” July 2015 TCPA Order.
“As soon as it was released, credit unions were sent into a state of disarray about how they could instantaneously comply with a document that is well over 100 pages, filled with onerous language and unclear nuances,” wrote Nussle.
For the complete CUNA letter, go to CUToday.info’s The gov.
NAFCU, as well, weighed in with a letter to the Subcommittee.
Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad wrote, “As shared with the Subcommittee in March, NAFCU appreciates the FCC’s effort to clarify and modernize its regulations. However, we believe that the FCC has hindered the ability of consumers receive important notifications and timely updates about financial developments that will impact their existing accounts, on both mobile and residential phone lines . . . Unfortunately, the FCC’s Order will make it more difficult for credit unions and other financial institutions to contact their members about identity theft or data breaches. We have urged the Commission to reconsider its action in regards to credit unions.”
Thaler also sent a letter to the House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit regarding FinTech and Online Marketplace Lending, ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, “Examining the Opportunities and Challenges with Financial Technology; The Development of Online Marketplace Lending.”
In the letter, Thaler wrote, “NAFCU believes that the growth of online marketplace lenders underlines the need for Congress and regulators to modernize existing laws and regulations on traditional financial institutions to facilitate greater access to credit . . . NAFCU believes that, in addition to modernizing rules, financial regulators must also require online market lenders to meet the basic consumer protection requirements such as the Truth in Lending Act, underwriting standards for loans, and applicable state usury laws, just as credit unions must do now.”
House Financial Services and CHOICE Act
NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt wrote a letter to House Financial Services Committee leaders in advance of Tuesday’s hearing on Title I of the Financial CHOICE Act.
In the letter Hunt wrote, “While there are credible arguments to be made for the existence of the CFPB, its primary focus should be on regulating the unregulated bad actors, not adding new regulatory burdens to good actors, like credit unions, that already fall under a prudential regulator. As expected, the breadth and pace of the CFPB’s rulemaking is troublesome, and the unprecedented new compliance burden placed on credit unions has been immense.”
“The impact of this growing compliance burden is evident as the number of credit unions continues to decline. Since the second quarter of 2010, we have lost 1,499 federally-insured credit unions – over 20% of the industry,” continued Hunt. “The overwhelming majority (96%) of these were smaller institutions below $100 million in assets.”
Hunt also suggested that, “We encourage the Committee to thoroughly examine this issue to ensure that financial institutions, such as credit unions, hold the appropriate amount of capital relative to risk and still have access to regulatory relief.”