Fifteen credit union executives, members of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Credit Union Advisory Council, met in Washington on Thursday for the first time to provide feedback to the regulator.
According to the council’s charter, the information gained from the group will be used to “better inform the CFPB’s policy development, rulemaking and engagement functions.”
The council does not include representatives from the four credit unions that currently have more than $10 billion in assets, a category that falls under the CFPB’s direct examination duties.
The bureau, in selecting the council members, was aiming to “assemble experts in consumer protection, financial services, community development, fair lending and civil rights, as well as representatives from credit unions that serve underserved communities and those that are located in areas that have been significantly impacted by higher-priced mortgage loans.
The CFPB also said the council members are not being compensated for their time nor reimbursed for expenses related to their participation; instead, the credit unions or their sponsoring trade organizations must foot the bill.
The group is anticipated by the bureau to meet four times per year, with at least two of those meetings taking place in person at the CFPB’s headquarters in Washington. The remaining sessions are expected to take place via conference call, the regulator said.
Council members include:
- Bernard Balsis, $20 million IEG FCU, Hilo, Hawaii
- Rose Bartolomucci, $117 million Towpath CU, Fairlawn, Ohio
- Gary Bell, $102 million Cooperative Center FCU, Berkeley, Calif.
- John Buckley, $122 million Gerber FCU, Fremont, Mich.
- Ron Ehrenreich, $19 million Syracuse Cooperative FCU, Syracuse, N.Y.
- Kevin Foster-Keddie, $1.7 billion Washington State Employees CU, Olympia, Wash.
- Helen Godfrey-Smith, $88 million, Shreveport FCU, Shreveport, La.
- Mitch Klein, $4 billion Police & Fire FCU, Philadelphia;
- Lily Lo, $11.3 million Northeast Community FCU, San Francisco
- Maria Martinez, $114 million Border Federal CU, Del Rio, Texas
- Marcus Schaefer, $1.6 billion Truliant FCU, Winston-Salem, N.C.
- Camille Shillenn, $40 million Unified People’s FCU in Cheyenne, Wyo.
- Gregg Stockdale, $37 million, 1st Valley CU, San Bernardino, Calif.
- David Wright, $43 million Services Center FCU, Yankton, S.D.
