NAFCU CEO speaks out against CFPB’s control over credit unions

The organization continues to maintain its “staunch opposition” to the CFPB’s authority

NAFCU CEO speaks out against CFPB’s control over credit unions
Credit unions need ‘regulatory relief,’ but not through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rulemaking, said Dan Berger, president and CEO of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions.

In an opinion piece written by Berger for the Credit Union Journal, the NAFCU president said the association is strongly against the bureau’s control over credit unions. 

“Our staunch opposition to credit unions being under the CFPB’s authority was not a particularly popular or easy position to take,” Berger said. “The NAFCU Board of Directors and our lobbying team stood strong and did not bow under political pressure throughout these negotiations.
NAFCU always serves in the best interests of the association’s members and the industry as a whole. That will not change.”

Berger pointed out that credit unions were out of the picture when the 2008 financial crisis happened – the event that led to the creation of the bureau.

“No one – especially not a government bureau – knows the individual financial needs of members better than the credit unions that serve them,” Berger said. “NAFCU will continue this fight – with no compromise – so credit unions can continue to operate in the upright manner they always have for their 106 million members.”

The Trump administration is keen on lessening the CFPB’s power. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin recently said that the administration was looking at a proposal from Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, to eliminate the CFPB’s authority to supervise financial firms, according to a Bloomberg report.


Related stories:
Trump administration aims to strip power from CFPB
Industry leaders warn of CFPB foreclosure rule’s ‘unintended consequences’