CUNA readies for 2 CFPB hearings next week

With both chambers of Congress out this week, the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) turns its attention to two hearings scheduled for next week, both featuring a look at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). On April 5, the Senate Banking Committee will conduct a hearing on the effects of consumer finance regulations, and on April 7, CFPB Director Richard Cordray will appear before the Senate Banking Committee.

“These hearings will help advance the theme we’ve been pushing the last several months–that the cost of compliance is getting higher and more burdensome,” said Ryan Donovan, CUNA’s chief advocacy officer. “We hope the members of the committee continue to pursue similar lines of questioning that the House Financial Services Committee pursued, about the extent to which the CFPB has the authority to exempt a certain class of financial institutions from regulations.”

Donovan said CUNA is “taken aback” by Cordray’s perspective that the health of the credit union industry is thriving under the CFPB, as he said before the House Financial Services Committee.

While the credit union system health as a whole is in a positive place, CUNA remains concerned about the consolidation of small financial institutions.

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