'It's about time that there is sane leadership at the CFPB': Comments of the week

February 8, 2018 10:00 PM

Group of business people holding chat cards in raised hands

Sergey Nivens - stock.adobe.com

Readers react to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pulling back from investigating the Equifax breach, opine on the Federal Reserve's tough enforcement against Wells Fargo, weigh in on gender pay issues and more.

brown egg and chicken isolated on a white background

Anatolii - stock.adobe.com

Responding to a comment that women lack desire to be in senior positions:

“How ridiculous to imply the desire doesn't exist. The experience doesn't exist which is why it is an unsolvable chicken and egg situation. Have you looked at the composition of our country's average bank board? All white men over 50. How many bank board members would quit simply if encouraged to take on a female or minority in a mentor role? If you always do what you always do, you will always get what you always got. Make the salary a tax break.”

Related: Banks need more women in senior leadership

A Wells Fargo & Co. sign sits on display outside the company's offices in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, April 27, 2010. Wells Fargo & Co., the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets and deposits, may raise its dividend once capital levels satisfy regulators and if the economic recovery continues, said Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

On the Federal Reserve voting to impose a new enforcement action against Wells Fargo in response to its phony-accounts scandal:

“I don't disagree that Fed action wasn't warranted; however, the original fines by the CFPB, OCC and City of L.A. were announced in September 2016. John Stumpf was pushed out the following month. Stephen Sanger stepped down as chairman in August 2017. And NOW comes the Fed with its action? Its timing is as disturbing as was the CFPB's taking the credit for the City L.A.'s work on the matter. And criticizing Stumpf's and Sanger's leadership at this point seems something less than effective.”

Related: Fed drops hammer on Wells Fargo as four board members ousted

Bullet holes riddle the welcome sign for North Dakota

Christopher Boswell/Christopher Boswell - stock.adobe.com

A retort to an op-ed calling for more bank consolidation:

“We need more, not fewer, local independent community banks and credit unions. Witness North Dakota's robust and resilient local banking ecosystem: six times more local community banks and credit unions (per capita) than in other states and four times more small-business lending. After the 2008 meltdown, not a single ND bank failed (per bankrate.com, "List Of Failed Banks 2009-2017".) A key factor: http://fairnow.weebly.com/blog/goldman-sachs-trumped-by-public-bank.”

Related: Survival strategy: Cut the number of banks in half

US congress building in Washington DC, with blue sky

Gang - stock.adobe.com

On the CFPB pulling back from a probe of Equifax as the Federal Trade Commission is investigating the credit bureau:

“It's about time that there is sane leadership at the CFPB. The CFPB was created with massive overlap with the FTC in its mission. That created significant duplicative, costly government oversight. Why would we need two government organizations to investigate? The CFPB was an abomination when it was created and run under Cordray. It did more real harm to consumers than good. Time for it to die a quick death and save taxpayer money.”

Related: Is CFPB punting on Equifax? It's complicated

Legs with gender symbol on asphalt, gender concept

Delphine Poggianti/Delphotostock - stock.adobe.com

On calls to get more women in senior positions at banks:

“The gap closure could benefit from regulatory pressure, perhaps recommendation over requirement. The FRB, OCC and FDIC could help close the gap by simply directing each regulated entity to have each board member open their rolodex and recruit a female shadow for the next two years of committee meetings. This would increase the pool of seasoned candidates enormously and would be a marginal increase in costs.”

Related: Banks need more women in senior leadership close the gap

A worker cleans glass awning panels outside the Rabobank Group headquarter offices in Utrecht, Netherlands, on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. Rabobank will eliminate 9,000 more jobs over the next three years, the Dutch lender said as it announced a strategic overhaul that includes a revamp of its century-old cooperative structure. Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg

Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg

On the U.S. banking arm of the Dutch lender Rabobank forfeiting nearly $370 million for anti-money-laundering deficiencies:

“And the former executives are where exactly?”

Related: Rabobank’s AML problems result in huge fines

doganmesut - stock.adobe.com

In response to a move by Congress to use Fed surplus funds to pay for unrelated priorities:

"Congress continues to show they don't have the spine to deal with spending excesses. They just continue to focus on finding new revenue sources, legit or non-legit, to support their bad financial management habits."

Related: Groans as Congress again uses Fed’s capital fund to plug holes