Donnelly Leads Bipartisan Group of Senators in Urging CFPB to Carefully Tailor Rules to Community Banks and Credit Unions

Granger, Ind. — Today, U.S. Senators Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Ben Sasse (R-NE) led a bipartisan coalition of 70 Senators in sending a letter to Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), urging the Bureau to carefully tailor its financial rules to match the unique role of community banks and credit unions in cities and towns across Indiana and the country.

Donnelly and a bipartisan group of Senators wrote, in part, in the letter, “Congress and federal regulators have long taken the approach that credit unions and community banks should be treated differently from the largest financial institutions and non-bank lenders. It is our hope that the CFPB also takes this approach and considers the impact of its rulemaking on smaller financial institutions and consumers.”

John McKenzie, President of the Indiana Credit Union League, said, “Indiana’s credit unions are very thankful for Senator Donnelly’s leadership on this important issue. Credit unions are being pulled into regulations that are designed to address problems that they were not involved in creating, which doesn’t help our 2.3 million Hoosier credit union member-owners. This letter will help encourage the CFPB to more carefully target its efforts to the largest financial institutions that need more oversight.”

Dax Denton, Senior Vice President, Indiana Bankers Association, said, “Unnecessary and arbitrarily applied regulation continues to be one of the most significant impediments to the ability of community banks to meet the needs of their communities. The Indiana Bankers Association applauds Sen. Joe Donnelly’s recognition of the vital impact that the Indiana banking community has on economic growth, and appreciates his support for appropriately tailoring regulation so that Indiana’s communities, businesses and families have the best opportunities available for access to capital.”

A copy of the text of the letter to the CFPB is below and here. July 18, 2016

 

The Honorable Richard Cordray

Director

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

1700 G Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20552

 

Dear Director Cordray,

 

In both good economic times and bad, community banks and credit unions serve as pillars of their communities, providing the capital and access to credit that families and small businesses need to grow. That is why Congress and federal regulators have long taken the approach that credit unions and community banks should be treated differently from the largest financial institutions and non-bank lenders. It is our hope that the CFPB also takes this approach and considers the impact of its rulemaking on smaller financial institutions and consumers. We request that the CFPB carefully tailor its regulations to match the unique nature of community banks and credit unions.

As it has now been six years since the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank), there are many new rules and regulations in place. We must ensure that credit unions and community banks are not unduly burdened by compliance, but rather have the ability to maintain their close relationships and continue to offer a wide variety of consumer financial products and services.

We agree that it is important for consumers to be empowered to take more control over their economic lives, and that bad actors should be rooted out of the financial marketplace. However, the CFPB must also consider its impact on community-based depository lenders, who are essential to spurring economic growth and prosperity at a local level, and not disrupt the good work of community lenders to help someone start a business, buy a home or car, or put their kids through college. Since we all recognize these community lenders were not the primary cause of the financial crisis, the CFPB must carefully tailor its rulemaking.

Dodd-Frank explicitly granted the CFPB the authority to tailor regulations in Section 1022(b)(3)(A) by allowing the CFPB to “exempt any class” of entity from its regulatory requirements. We believe the CFPB has robust tailoring authority and ask that you act accordingly to prevent any unintended consequences that negatively impact community banks and credit unions or unnecessarily limit their ability to serve consumers.

Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to working with you on this important matter.

Sincerely,

 

Joe Donnelly (D-IN)

Ben Sasse (R-NE)

Joe Manchin (D-WV)

Jon Tester (D-MT)

Claire McCaskill (D-MO)

Mark Warner (D-VA)

Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)

Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

Martin Heinrich (D-NM)

Michael Bennet (D-CO)

Angus King (I-ME)

Tom Udall (D-NM)

Gary Peters (D-MI)

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Tim Kaine (D-VA)

Bob Casey (D-PA)

Lamar Alexander (R-TN)

Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)

John Barrasso (R-WY)

Roy Blunt (R-MO)

John Boozman (R-AR)

Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)

Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

Thad Cochran (R-MS)

Susan Collins (R-ME)

Tom Cotton (R-AR)

Mike Crapo (R-ID)

Steve Daines (R-MT)

Joni Ernst (R-IA)

Deb Fischer (R-NE)

Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

Dean Heller (R-NV)

John Hoeven (R-ND)

Johnny Isakson (R-GA)

Ron Johnson (R-WI)

Mark Kirk (R-IL)

Jim Lankford (R-OK)

John McCain (R-AZ)

Jerry Moran (R-KS)

Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)

Rand Paul (R-KY)

David Perdue (R-GA)

Jim Risch (R-ID)

Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Tim Scott (R-SC)

Dan Sullivan (R-AK)

John Thune (R-SD)

Thom Tillis (R-NC)

David Vitter (R-LA)

Mike Enzi (R-WY)

Jim Inhofe (R-OK)

Pat Toomey (R-PA)

Cory Gardner (R-CO)

Jeff Flake (R-AZ)

Dan Coats (R-IN)

Jeff Sessions (R-AL)

Richard Shelby (R-AL)

Roland Burr (R-NC)

Mike Rounds (R-SD)

Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

Roger Wicker (R-MS)

Lindsay Graham (R-SC)

Rob Portman (R-OH)

Ted Cruz (R-TX)

John Cornyn (R-TX)

Pat Roberts (R-KS)

Bob Corker (R-TN)

Mike Lee (R-UT)