Patrick McHenryChairman

Washington, June 11, 2015 -

Dodd-Frank created over 400 new regulations that were designed for Wall Street but are instead hitting Main Street. This avalanche of red tape is making it harder for Americans – especially those with low and middle incomes – to achieve financial independence. The avalanche of regulatory red tape has also made it significantly harder for community banks and credit unions to serve their customers and has forced these financial institutions to cut services they offer their customers- services they need and want. 

“Today’s hearing provides an opportunity for members to continue the discussion of regulatory relief for community financial institutions and the protection of consume financial choice. Many members here today have put in a tremendous amount of work to build bipartisan coalitions for their legislation,” said Rep. Randy Neugebauer, Chairman of the subcommittee.

“Today we consider legislation that covers a wide array of financial services issues. Legislation amending the bank examination and supervision process. Legislation addressing consumer lending concerns. Legislation facilitating a healthy child support system, Neugebauer added.

Key Takeaways from the Hearing:

• Washington’s regulatory burden doesn’t just affect a bank or credit union’s bottom-line, it also affects the consumer’s access to affordable credit. Because small institutions are less able to absorb increasing regulatory costs, they are more likely to pass the costs of regulation on to their customers in the form of higher prices and diminished credit availability.
• For instance, thanks to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) mortgage rules, it is now harder for low and moderate-income Americans and minorities to qualify for a mortgage. Additionally, the Dodd-Frank Act has curtailed or eliminated services that bank customers once took for granted, like free checking.
• Real consumer protection requires ensuring that consumers have access to competitive, transparent and innovative markets vigorously policed for fraud and deception. Real consumer protection respects consumers’ rights to make informed choices free from government interference and control. Real consumer protection provides economic freedom and more choices to consumers so competition can control costs.

Topline Quotes from Witness:

"Even the most vigorous consumer advocate should recognize that dramatic shifts in policy in consumer protection will not be in consumers’ longer run interests. Replacing the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a bipartisan commission, particularly now that the Bureau is established, would provide for an approach to consumer protection that benefits from the views of the differing members of the commission and that is not subject to abrupt changes in direction that could come from individual directors."

- Oliver Ireland, Partner, Morrison and Foster LLP

"...consumer protection, like every other government function, must be carried out in a consistent, fair, and transparent manner. Unfortunately, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau too often has failed to maintain those basic standards."

- Jess Sharp, Managing Director, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness

"Financial regulation should consist of clear, consistently enforced rules within which customers and financial institutions can freely interact. A well-functioning market enables people who need financing to obtain it efficiently and at a competitive price. Market forces reward financial companies that serve consumers well and discipline firms that fail to provide products and services in a form and at a price that consumers want."

- Hester Peirce, Director of Financial Markets Working Group and Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University