The new regulatory agency on consumer products should not preempt the enforcement powers of the NCUA, it should be able to preempt state rules and should be required to streamline and modernize consumer regulation, CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica wrote House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank today.
Mica wrote that if those and other criteria are met, CUNA would endorse the Obama administration's proposal to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
CUNA is also urging lawmakers to: Finance the agency from federal funds rather
Recommended For You
than from fees levied on specific products, although examination fees should be allowed; give the agency a structure that gives credit unions the authority to decide what products are appropriate to offer their members; only require the collection of deposit data by census tract from institutions not required to provide that information to state or federal regulators; and add another seat on the agency's board for a state or federal credit union regulator or industry representative.
"Consumers of financial products, especially for consumers of products and services provided by currently unregulated entities, need greater protections, and CUNA agrees that a CFPA could be an effective way to achieve that protection, provided the agency does not impose duplicative or unnecessary regulatory burdens on credit unions," Mica wrote.
Last month, NAFCU urged lawmakers to exempt from the new agency's purview all depository institutions, which are already regulated by the government.
CUNA issued its position in advance of tomorrow's hearing by Frank's panel during which representatives of the banking industry will testify.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
