The Independent Community Bankers of America is supporting legislation introduced by Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus to replace the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a five-member commission.
A commission would “build in a system of checks and balances that a single director form of governance simply can’t do,” ICBA President and CEO Camden R. Fine wrote in a letter to Chairman Bachus announcing the group’s support of the bill. “The commission model, which has worked well for the FDIC, SEC, and FTC, would help ensure that the actions of the CFPB are measured, non-partisan and result in balanced, high quality rules and effective consumer protection.”
Chairman Bachus thanked the community bankers for their support of the bill, which is H.R. 1121, the Responsible Consumer Financial Protection Regulations Act.
“Community bankers understand just how important consumer protection truly is, and they agree a commission is a better approach. A balanced, bi-partisan commission will protect consumers without giving such incredible power to just one unelected person in Washington, as the Dodd-Frank Act does,” said Chairman Bachus.
According to the organization’s website, the Independent Community Bankers of America represents nearly 5,000 community banks of all sizes and charter types through the U.S. These banks employ nearly 300,000.
H.R. 1121 is identical to the bipartisan approach the House took to consumer protection during debate on financial regulatory reform in the last Congress. However, that approach was later dropped by the Democratic Conferees to the Dodd-Frank Act.
Click here to read the ICBA letter of support for H.R. 1121.