The American Bankers Association joined a broad coalition of financial and housing industry groups today in a letter of support for a recent bill, S. 3990, that would replace the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s sole director with a bipartisan, five-member commission. In a letter to Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), the bill’s sponsor, the groups noted that this structure “will provide a balanced and deliberative approach to supervision, regulation and enforcement by encouraging input from all stakeholders.”
They added that there has long been bipartisan support in Congress for a CFPB five-member commission, with several bills passed by the House with both Democratic and Republican support in recent years. Additionally, the House version of the Dodd-Frank Act that passed in 2009 also envisioned a commission governance structure for the bureau, the groups said.
The letter came as the Supreme Court prepares to render a verdict in Seila Law v. the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where the question of the bureau’s governance structure is a point of discussion.
