Ahead of Rohit Chopra’s confirmation hearing, the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) wrote the director-designate outlining four core principles the organization said is necessary for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to achieve the shared goal of “protecting consumers equally across institutions and putting an end to the political pendulum swing.”
The priorities Richard Hunt, CBA president and CEO, recommended to Chopra were:
- Ensuring CFPB actions preserve consumer access to credit;
- Developing long-term, consistent consumer financial protection laws;
- Implementing a clear, transparent rulemaking process with input from all participants; and
- Creating a level playing field across all financial services institutions.
“The bureau has the potential to be one of the most important and influential regulators for consumer protection,” Hunt wrote. “Ensuring all rulemaking is done in a transparent and open manner and allows for thorough stakeholder feedback will allow banks to continue to improve on protecting our customers through any challenge they may face. Banks need this transparency as our economy reels from the effects of COVID-19, and our nation’s banks look to protect consumer’s financial interests throughout.”
In his confirmation hearing, Chopra discussed his vision for the CFPB.
“America in March of 2021 is far different than of a year ago,” Chopra said during his introductory remarks to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. “Every week we’ve seen hundreds of thousands lose their jobs, local businesses have shuddered, and more than 500,000 have died. While there’s some hopeful signs the tide is turning, we must not forget that the financial lives of millions of Americans lay in ruin.”
Chopra addressed the bureau’s role in preventing another foreclosure crisis, especially as it affects people of color. Chopra said lessons from the Great Recession will help regulators during this time to monitor the market, enforce homeowner protections, and work across the government to prevent the same issues.
When it came to questions on debt collection and credit reporting, Chopra said it was important for enforcement to stop any sort of illegal or egregious behavior that would harm consumers. He said it was “important to address today’s problems, but also anticipate tomorrow’s risk.”
Chopra said if he were confirmed, he would work to
- Ensure the bureau’s Office of Service Member Affairs would play a leading role in analysis and taking the appropriate steps to protect service members, veterans and their families from financial abuse;
- Promote appropriate education for student consumers and monitor credit trends involving them;
- Hold student loan servicers accountable to the terms they promised borrowers as payments resume;
- Commit the civil money penalty fund to victim relief and financial literacy in clear and transparent ways;
- Retain restitution as a critical part of the bureau’s enforcement work;
- Protect small businesses as they “face extinction”;
- Commit the bureau to focusing on fixing harms and making it clear to market participants what is expected of them;
- Collaborate with other agencies to regulate small dollar loans; and
- Reinvest in the supervision and enforcement of the fair credit lending and equal opportunity laws.
“If confirmed to lead the CFPB, I pledge to be a good partner to each of you, and approach the agency’s mission with humility, an open mind, and attuned to market realities,” Chopra told committee members. “I look forward to working with all of you to tackle the pressing problems that families face during their financial lives during this critical moment for our country.”