This morning, AFSA President & CEO Chris Stinebert testified before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit on “Legislative Proposals to Promote Accountability and Transparency at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”
Stinebert addressed three policy concerns in his testimony:
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Structural improvements to the CFPB that AFSA believes would bring the Bureau’s structure in line with other independent federal regulatory agencies;
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Ensuring the confidential treatment of privileged information by the CFPB in the supervisory process; and
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The need for systemic reform of the regulatory process beyond the CFPB that could restore balance.
Specifically, Stinebert expressed AFSA’s support for the following legislative proposals that would address a number of the industry’s concerns with the CFPB:
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H.R. 1121, the “Responsible Consumer Financial Protection Regulations Act,” which would replace the single director of the CFPB with a five-member commission, including the Vice Chairman for Supervision of the Federal Reserve Board.
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H.R. 1315, the “Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act,” which passed the House 241-173 in July.
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H.R. 1355, which would move the CFPB into the Treasury Department in a structure similar to that of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Doing so would provide the congressional oversight and budgetary accountability currently lacking in the CFPB’s structure, without creating a full independent commission.
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H.R. 1640, the “Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Accountability Act,” which would fund the CFPB through an authorization of annual appropriations by Congress, rather than the current autonomous transfer of funds from the FRB, which lacks any meaningful oversight.
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H.R. 3871, the “Proprietary Information Protection Act of 2012,” which would clarify the law to say that the submission of confidential information to the CFPB in the course of the supervisory process does not waive any privilege that a regulated entity may claim with respect to such information.
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S. 2055, which goes a step further in extending this privilege universally to any federal banking agency, state bank supervisor or foreign banking authority, including the CFPB.
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H.R. 10, the “Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act” (REINS Act), which was passed by the House, would prevents federal agencies from implementing major regulatory initiatives without congressional approval. It ensures that new major rules that impose annual economic costs in excess of $100 million or otherwise have significant economic or anticompetitive effects cannot take effect unless Congress passes a Joint Resolution approving the regulation within 90 session or legislative days of the rule’s submission to Congress.
Lastly, Stinebert AFSA stated that the important procedural safeguards of the Magnuson-Moss Act should be extended to other forms of federal regulatory rulemaking beyond the Federal Trade Commission.
Read AFSA’s complete testimony here.
For more information, contact AFSA Executive Vice President Bill Himpler atbhimpler@afsamail.org or 202-466-8616. |
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