The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today released a proposal that would prohibit customers from waiving their ability to participate in class action suits and limit drastically the use of mandatory arbitration agreements for financial products and services.
Arbitration, mortgages, small business lending and small-dollar loans are among the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s policy priorities over the next two years, according to a document released today.
ABA member Sylvia Aparicio — SVP and chief lending officer at First Community Bank, Corpus Christi, Texas — yesterday represented small banks on the Small Business Review Panel convened by the Consumer Financial Protect Bureau to discuss mandatory arbitration clauses contained in products offered by small entities.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today unveiled a plan that would prohibit customers from waiving their ability to participate in class action suits and limits drastically the use of mandatory arbitration agreements for financial products and services.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s March study of mandatory pre-dispute arbitration agreements shows that arbitration has “significant, demonstrable benefits over litigation in general and class action litigation in particular,” ABA and two other trade groups said in a comment letter today. In keeping with those findings, the groups said, the Dodd-Frank Act would not permit
Eighty-five Republican members of the House and Senate in a letter Wednesday urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to reopen its arbitration study process, saying it has not been fair, transparent or comprehensive.
ABA and other trade groups last week urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to solicit public comment on its recently issued arbitration study before it considers rulemaking on the subject.
ABA, along with three trade associations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, wrote a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau urging the Bureau to create a Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act panel prior to proposing rules to regulate arbitration.