FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Vicki Christner – CUNA Communications; 202-329-9950; vchristner@cuna.coop

Washington, DC (October 12, 2017) – Eight CUNA-back regulatory relief bills were passed by the House Financial Services Committee today.

“We thank the committee for passing bipartisan regulatory relief that will help credit unions better serve their members,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “These bills are a step toward removing barriers that keep consumers from more affordable mortgages and other products. We’re encouraged by the committee’s action today, and will continue our engagement to get these bills to the House floor, the Senate and across the finish line.”

CUNA wrote to committee leadership in support of the eight piece of legislation the organization backed under its Campaign for Common-Sense Regulation:

• H.R. 1116, the Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk (TAILOR) Act (passed 39-21), that would “would reduce regulatory burden for financial institutions with lower risk profiles relative to systematically significant institutions by requiring financial regulators to take risk into account when promulgating regulations;”
• H.R. 2396, the Privacy Notification Technical Clarification Act (passed 40-20), that would “provide credit unions sufficient flexibility to ensure that members have access to the privacy policy pertinent to their relationship with the credit union;”
• H.R. 2706, the Financial Institution Consumer Protection Act of 2017 (passed 59-1), that would “impose certain limits on the federal government’s Operation Choke Point, by limiting federal bank regulators’ ability to discourage or restrict depository institutions from entering into or maintaining a financial services relationship with specific customers unless certain criteria are met;”
• H.R. 2954, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Adjustment Act (passed 36-24), that would “would provide much needed relief, particularly to smaller credit unions, by raising the threshold that triggers Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting requirements to 1,000 closed-end and 2,000 open-end mortgages;”
• H.R. 3072, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Examination and Reporting Threshold Act of 2017 (passed 39-21), that would “increase the threshold figure at which credit unions and banks are subject to direct examination and reporting requirements of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from $10 billion to $50 billion;”
• H.R. 3758, the Senior Safe act of 2017 (passed 60-0), that would “represent an important step toward improving the ability of credit unions to protect seniors from unscrupulous activity by providing legal immunity for properly trained financial services employees who disclose concerns about financial exploitation of senior citizens;”
• H.R. 3857, the Protecting Advice for Small Savers Act of 2017 (passed 34-26), that would “repeal the [Department of Labor’s] fiduciary rule and preempt state law avoiding a patchwork of standards;” and
• H.R. 3971, the Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act of 2017 (passed 41-19), that would “make important changes to both the Truth In Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlements Procedures Act (RESPA) to reduce the burden on small financial institutions. The proposal would exempt mortgage loans made by financial institutions under $25 billion in assets from TILA’s escrow requirements; and, the legislation would also exempt mortgage servicers that service fewer than 30,000 mortgages annually from the requirements of Section 6 of RESPA.”

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About CUNA
Credit Union National Association (CUNA) is the only national association that advocates on behalf of all of America’s credit unions, which are owned by 110 million consumer members. CUNA, along with its network of affiliated state credit union leagues, delivers unwavering advocacy, continuous professional growth and operational confidence to protect the best interests of all credit unions. For more information about CUNA, visit cuna.org.