FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    

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

Washington, D.C. (June 7, 2018) – Credit Union National Association implores the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection to make use of the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) process. In a white paper submission to the agency on Thursday, CUNA strongly advised the Bureau to seek additional stakeholder views and proactively work with the industry to ensure regulations are fair and directly targeted to any problems in the industry. 

"As future Bureau rules, including the small business lending rule, lack a statutorily required or set implementation timeline, we strongly urge the Bureau to employ greater use of ANPRs rather than only using the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) process,” the white paper reads. “An illustrative example of rulemaking that would have benefited from more external stakeholder engagement before moving forward is the Bureau’s payday and small dollar lending rule. 

CUNA’s white paper on "Common-Sense Reforms" includes recommendations for the Bureau to: 

• Ensure its Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) process is efficient and effective moving forward, and that the bureau gives adequate weight and consideration to the expert input obtained during SBREFA panels. This includes: 

• Ensuring small entity representatives (SERs) receive prep materials well in advance; 
• Conducting pre-SBREFA panel calls with SERs; 
• Thoroughly considering SER comments before proposing rules; and  

• Ensuring SERs receive the final SBREFA report before it is published as part of a proposal. 

• Work with NCUA, which understands the credit union structure and business model, throughout the rulemaking process; and 
• Rely on data, including a cost-benefit analysis, as a foundation of rulemaking. The bureau should also ensure the public has access to the same information it is relying on for rulemaking. 

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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.