Newsroom

March 17, 2020

NAFCU, trades extend support for bill to reform CFPB leadership structure

CFPBNAFCU joined with 18 trade associations to offer support for the Consumer Financial Protection Commission Act of 2020 introduced earlier this month by House Financial Services Committee Member Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., and his fellow Republicans on the Committee.  This NAFCU-supported legislation would reform the CFPB's governance structure from a single director to a bipartisan commission. 

“[W]e believe your legislation is an appropriate and sensible remedy that would bring long term stability to the Bureau,” wrote the coalition in the letter sent Friday. “In addition to safeguarding the CFPB from executive and political interference, a Senate confirmed, bipartisan commission will provide a balanced and deliberative approach to supervision, regulation, and enforcement by encouraging input from all stakeholders.

“The financial services marketplace thrives in a stable regulatory environment,” the group concluded.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit brought by Seila Law against the CFPB challenging its single-director structure. The bureau previously announced it would no longer defend its structure after years of lawsuits and calls to reform it from various stakeholders.

The association has consistently advocated that the bureau's leadership structure should be reformed. Last week, NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee ahead of CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger’s testimony suggesting areas where the association believes the structure and operations of the bureau could be improved.

NAFCU will continue to monitor related litigation and Congress' efforts to make CFPB reforms.