SIOUX FALLS, S.D.-- Nearly 100 financial service professionals in this state joined with Sen. Tim Johnson and Richard Cordray, the new director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with the credit unions on hand, not surprisingly, expressing frustration at the growing regulatory burden even though those in attendance are exempt from many of the new rules.
Johnson, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, told those in attendance that "the bureau was created to seek input from consumers as well as consistently seeking input from credit unions and small banks from around the country," and that the CFPB will "promote a transparent and robust consumer financial marketplace that we can all benefit from."
"Johnson called the exemption for most credit unions and all small banks from the CFPB rules a means of leveling the playing field. Robbie Thompson, president/CEO of the Credit Union Association of the Dakotas, noted that Sen. Johnson made clear at the session that he understood that credit unions and community banks did not cause the financial crisis, and said that was why he authored the provision in the Dodd-Frank financial reform law directing the CFPB to consider the impact of its rules on smaller financial institutions, including credit unions and community banks in rural areas.
During a roundtable discussion, Jeff Schmidt, COO of Voyage FCU in Sioux Falls and chair of the league's Governmental Affairs Committee, reiterated the burden all the new rules have made for smaller institutions.
