ABA Statement for the Record to the House Financial Services Committee on the CFPB

The American Bankers Association (ABA) appreciates the opportunity to provide a Statement for the Record for this hearing, "A New Era for the CFPB: Balancing Power and Reprioritizing Consumer Protections." ABA is the voice of the nation's $24.1 trillion banking industry, which is composed of small, regional and large banks that together employ more than 2.1 million people, safeguard $19.2 trillion in deposits and extend $12.7 trillion in loans.

ABA members support strong consumer protections. Consumers are our customers, and we need to earn their trust every day to stay in business. While the CFPB has made some important contributions to consumer protection, we appreciate this opportunity for all those affected by the CFPB's work to consider structural reforms that will improve the way the agency pursues its important mission. Like all government agencies, the CFPB must strike a balance that allows it to pursue its objectives without undermining other important values, including fairness to those it regulates. Since opening its doors in July 2011, the CFPB's focus all too often has been on increasing the scope of its authority, rather than on instituting checks and balances to ensure that its authority is exercised wisely and fully for the benefit of consumers and consistent with law and due process.

There must be more accountability, and to accomplish this the ABA has long advocated for reforms that would help ensure that Americans continue to have access to the financial products they want and need, along with the protections they deserve. Several of these reforms have been noticed for this hearing. ABA strongly supports the following bills and Congressional Review Act Resolutions:

Download the statement for the record to read the full text.