WASHINGTON – The Obama Administration is attempting to allay concerns that its proposed consumer protection agency will not be overly focused on banks and, to a lesser extent, credit unions, and not on non-bank lenders.
Analysts have suggested that with 8,000 banks already examined once a year by their regulators, it would be impossible for a new agency to oversee tens of thousands of non-bank lenders to the same degree. But Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, Michael Barr, told American Banker, an affiliate of Credit Union Journal, that consumer protection exams would be risk-based – potentially giving smaller banks a break, while ensuring larger banks and non-banks receive the same treatment.
“I do think that community banks could use less supervision and examination than very large financial firms offering a wide range of complex products,” he said. “I think there are probably some community banks that have supervision and examination more in a shorter time period than is required. There may be some community banks that have more intrusive forms of supervision than is required to assess the risk they pose to consumers.”
NCUA has proposed creating its own consumer protection agency.
