WASHINGTON — The woman setting up the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection said the bureau will be a strong ally of credit unions that “want to work on behalf of their members.”
Elizabeth Warren told CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference that the bureau will have an ongoing dialogue with credit unions to ensure that credit unions can serve their members and not be faced with more regulations. She said her bureau will combine TILA and RESPA rules and this should simplify things for small lenders. Warren also promised that the bureau would seek to ensure that there are consistent rules and enforcement for nonbank lenders so that the financial service market is a more level playing field.
Warren also noted that if the rules require financial service providers to disclose all costs of their products up front, smaller institutions will benefit as well as consumers.
She praised credit unions for championing the interests of consumers and said she wants to ensure credit unions can continue to do that for many years.
The new bureau, which was created by the financial overhaul bill passed last year, will be an independent agency housed in the Federal Reserve. It is scheduled to begin operating this summer.
