AFSA Supports Reform of CFPB’s Unchecked Power

WASHINGTON--()--The American Financial Services Association (AFSA) supports reform of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) single-director structure and believes its annual budget should be appropriated by Congress.

AFSA submitted a letter for the record to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Committee on Financial Services which is holding a hearing Tuesday, March 21.

“The CFPB should be subject to traditional checks and balances,” the association wrote. “Rather than the CFPB director dictating his own budget, Congress should exercise its constitutional power of the purse to determine the Bureau’s budget. The CFPB should be placed under the appropriations process to ensure that the agency is not self-regulated and that Congress has proper oversight and funding authority over the bureau, as it does for other federal agencies.”

The association also believes that the agency should not be run by a single director with unilateral decision-making power and virtually no oversight.

“…the CFPB should be reconstituted as a bipartisan 'Consumer Financial Opportunity Commission' to ensure certainty, fairness and transparency…leading to more balanced and effective regulation,” AFSA said in its letter.

Based in Washington, D.C., the American Financial Services Association (AFSA), which celebrated its centennial in 2016, is the national trade association for the consumer credit industry, protecting access to credit and consumer choice. Its 400 members include traditional installment lenders, vehicle finance/leasing companies, consumer and commercial finance companies, mortgage lenders and servicers, payment card issuers, industrial banks and industry suppliers. For more information, visit www.afsaonline.org.

Contacts

American Financial Services Association
Jack Ferry
Vice President, Communications
O: 202-776-7308
M: 248-303-4416
jferry@afsamail.org
or
Dan Bucherer
Manager, Communications
O: 202-466-8613
M: 301-503-6061
dbucherer@afsamail.org

Release Summary

AFSA supports reform of the CFPB single-director structure and believes its annual budget should be appropriated by Congress.

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Contacts

American Financial Services Association
Jack Ferry
Vice President, Communications
O: 202-776-7308
M: 248-303-4416
jferry@afsamail.org
or
Dan Bucherer
Manager, Communications
O: 202-466-8613
M: 301-503-6061
dbucherer@afsamail.org