ARLINGTON, Va.-As if the regulatory compliance burden facing credit unions has not been big enough, expect it to be even bigger in 2013.
The pace of new rules coming out of Washington, particularly around mortgages, is going to pick up this year, cautioned Fred Becker. "I expect that right out of the box this year guidance will come from the CFPB pretty fast," said the NAFCU president, pointing to new Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) rules that will be finalized before the end of the month.
CFPB director Richard Cordray, continued Becker, "has said we'll get a year before final implementation, but a year from now the mortgage process will look 180 degrees different than it does today. My view is that the CFPB wants to turn every financial institution product into a pure commodity," asserted Becker, advising CUs to make sure they have carefully reviewed the proposed new mortgage rules and assessed how they might impact the credit union and how they will be addressed.
"NAFCU will be conducting a number of webcasts and events to support credit unions here," said Becker, adding that the trade association has added additional staff to help CUs with compliance.
While not an opportune environment, if the CFPB does turn many FI products into commodities, Becker still believes CUs will have an advantage over the mega-banks "because of the considerable consumer dissatisfaction and frustration with the economy and large banks. When products are equal, what will drive more consumers to credit unions are consumer trust, credit union friendliness, and service."
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