CUNA board, CFPB Director Chopra talk credit union priorities

The CUNA Board of Directors hosted Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra Wednesday to discuss credit union priorities and how the bureau can support credit unions in their mission to promote financial well-being for all.

“We appreciate Director Chopra for taking time to engage with our movement to better understand how the Bureau’s actions affect credit unions’ ability to advance their communities and improve their members’ financial well-being,” said CUNA President/CEO Jim Nussle. “As the original consumer protectors, credit unions are eager to work with Director Chopra to right size his agency’s oversight, balancing regulatory efforts with prioritizing consumers’ needs.”

The discussion covered several aspects of credit unions’ service, including:

• Preserving relationship-based banking, which has long been the hallmark of credit unions’ service to their members.
• Consolidation within the financial services sector and the impact on small credit unions.
• Using CFPB’s exemption authority under the Dodd-Frank Act to protect credit union members from one-size-fits-all rulemakings designed to rein in Wall Street bad actors.
• Conflicts between credit unions’ statutory structure and CFPB’s proposed 1071 business lending reporting requirements.

CUNA and the Leagues have long worked with CFPB, Congress, and policymakers within the Beltway to illustrate the real-world effects that regulations have on financial institutions and the consumers they serve.