Accountability is Paramount
This week, the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy held a hearing entitled A Holistic Review of Regulators: Regulatory Overreach and Economic Consequences, which sought to explore the interaction and economic impact of federal banking agencies’ recent regulatory proposals. AFSA submitted a letter detailing its grave concerns regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s use of its Policy Statement on Abusive Acts and Practices.
The letter highlighted the very broad and amebous parameters that might be considered abusive to the Bureau. Among many others, these include “negative consumer outcomes,” arbitration, customer support taking too long, complicated products, and anything a consumer deems abusive.
The CFPB claims it doesn’t matter if the business in question causes a consumer’s lack of understanding through untruthful statements or if the consumer simply claims not to understand. Either is abusive.
The letter goes on to note that the policy statement is just the latest and clearest example of regulatory overreach. Read more about AFSA’s stance in this blog post.
September 21st, 2023
