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House Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee Examines Transparency in the Financial Regulatory System
On March 6, the House Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee held a hearing to consider the need to increase transparency in the financial regulatory system and examine opportunities for reform. According to a committee memorandum, the purpose of the hearing was to examine both (i) “the impact the rules and processes from federal financial agencies . . . have had on financial companies and their customers”; and (ii) “opportunities for reform of these federal financial agencies, with the aim of improving transparency, accountability and due process for regulated persons and entities and their customers.” As explained by Chairman Blaine Luetkemeyer in a committee press release following the hearing, “ambiguous guidance, contradictory rules, and aggressive enforcement has led to confusion for financial companies seeking to comply with Dodd-Frank and other Obama-era rules.” And, the Chairman continued, “the greatest impact is on the customers of those financial companies, who in many cases have been left clamoring for access to financial services, and paying more for the ones they’ve been able to retain.”
Four witnesses offered testimony and answered questions before the committee:
- Greg Baer, President of the Clearing House Association, focused his testimony on the critical importance of the due process clause and the Administrative Procedure Act, and how “a transparent [rule-making] process tend[s] to produce better regulation,” while the lack thereof has “adverse consequences on the quality of rules being administered and the ability of our banking system to support economic growth.”
- Norbert Michel, a senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, testified, among other things, that “for decades, the U.S. regulatory framework has increasingly made it more difficult to create and maintain jobs and businesses that benefit Americans,” and that, “[o]ne of the main reasons the regulatory regime has been counterproductive for so long is because it allows regulators to micromanage firms’ financial risk, a process that substitutes regulators’ judgments for those of private investors.”
- Amias Moore Gerety, Former Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions, U.S. Department of the Treasury discussed both (i) how the post-crisis Wall Street Reforms “strengthened our financial system and supported our economic recovery,” and (ii) how “the ability to deliver regulation that is appropriate to the risk is the central question for policy makers designing financial regulation—both of individual institutions and for the constantly evolving financial system as a whole.”
- Bill Himpler, an Executive Vice President at the American Financial Services Association shared what he viewed as a contradiction between his belief that “[c]redit should not be limited to the wealthy or those with perfect credit scores,” and his observation that the “CFPB seems to believe that credit should only be extended to those borrowers who do not present any risk.”
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing to Discuss the Impact of Regulations on Access to Credit
On March 28, the House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit held a hearing that examined recent trends in lending and how the current regulatory climate impacts the availability of credit for consumers and small businesses. According to a memorandum issued prior to the hearing by the House Financial Services Committee, the hearing sought to address the decline in “[l]ending by community financial institutions . . . since the passage of the Dodd-Frank [Act].” Specifically, the memo notes that in the six years prior to the Dodd-Frank Act, small bank lending was more than 150 percent above large bank lending. In the more than six years after Dodd-Frank, small bank lending has been nearly 80 percent below large bank lending. A witness list for the single-panel hearing (along with links to prepared remarks submitted by each witness) included the following stakeholders:
- Scott Heitkamp, President and Chief Executive Officer, ValueBank Texas, on behalf of the Independent Community Bankers of America;
- Holly Wade, Director, Research and Policy Analysis, National Federation of Independent Businesses;
- J. David Motley, President, Colonial Companies, on behalf of the Mortgage Bankers Association; and
- Michael Calhoun, President, Center for Responsible Lending.
In a press release issued by the Financial Services Committee following the hearing, majority members of the subcommittee identified the “Key Takeaways from the Hearing,” as (i) “Dodd-Frank has left Americans with fewer choices, higher costs and less freedom”; (ii) “Financial institutions are exiting entire lines of business, limiting the availability of products and services for consumers”; and (iii) “[t]he Financial CHOICE Act will increase access to credit for consumers and capital for small businesses.”
An archived webcast of the hearing may be accessed here.
House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Explores Dodd-Frank’s “Too Big to Fail” Designation Process
On March 28, the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing that examined the processes used by the Financial Stability Oversight Council to designate nonbank financial companies under Section 113 of Dodd-Frank. As discussed in a memorandum issued prior to the hearing by the House Financial Services Committee, the hearing was also scheduled to go over the findings of a recent Financial Services Committee Staff Report, including concerns over whether FSOC has acted inconsistently in exercising its power to designate certain nonbank companies as “too big to fail.” During the hearing, the subcommittee heard from the following witnesses:
- Dr. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum
- Dr. Paul Kupiec, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
- Professor David Zaring, Associate Professor, Legal Studies and Business Ethics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- Mr. Alex J. Pollock, Distinguished Senior Fellow, R Street Institute
In a press release available on the Financial Services Committee webpage following the hearing, the majority members of the subcommittee identified the “Key Takeaways from the Hearing,” as: (i) “[t]he Dodd-Frank Act created an arbitrary threshold that the FSOC uses to designate systemically important financial institutions (SIFIs); (ii) “FSOC’s process for designating SIFIs in essence codifies "too big to fail" and poses a threat to the U.S. economy”; (iii) “[t]he Financial CHOICE Act, the Republican plan to replace Dodd-Frank and promote economic growth” would “end[] ‘too big to fail’ and bank bailouts.”
Rep. Emmer (R-Minn) Reintroduces Financial Stability Oversight Council Reform Act
Representative Tom Emmer (R-Minn) has reintroduced the Financial Stability Oversight Council Reform Act (H.R. 1459), which is intended to increase oversight, transparency, and accountability by subjecting the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Office of Financial Research (OFR) to the regular congressional appropriations process. The proposed legislation—which has been referred to the Committee on Financial Services—would also provide for certain quarterly reporting requirements for the OFR, including an “annual work plan” subject to public notice and comment.
President Trump Releases Budget Plan Proposal; HUD and Treasury Among Many Who Would Face Significant Cuts
On March 16, the White House released its budget blueprint America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again, which sets forth the President’s discretionary funding proposals in advance of the “full Budget”—scheduled for release later this spring. Among the many agencies and programs that would experience substantial cuts under the President’s budget are both the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of the Treasury.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). For HUD, the President’s 2018 budget requests $40.7 billion in gross discretionary funding for HUD, which is a $6.2 billion or 13.2 percent decrease from the 2017 annualized continuing resolution level. The White House budget also proposes that: (i) funding be eliminated or redirected to the State and Local level for the Community Development Block Grant program, which the White House estimates would save $3 billion from 2017 levels; (ii) funding be eliminated for “lower priority programs,” which the White House says include “the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, Choice Neighborhoods, and the Self-help Homeownership Opportunity Program”; (iii) funding be eliminated or redirected to the State and Local level for Section 4 Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing (at an estimated savings of $35 million from 2017 levels); (iv) support be provided for “homeownership through provision of Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance programs.”
Department. of the Treasury. And, as for Treasury, the White House is proposing that the Department be granted $12.1 billion in discretionary resources. This proposal represents a $519 million or 4.1 percent decrease from the 2017 levels. Specifically, the White House’s budget proposes to, among other things: (i) preserve key operations of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) to ensure that “the IRS can continue to combat identity theft, prevent fraud, and reduce the deficit through the effective enforcement and administration of tax laws,” while diverting resources away from “antiquated operations” that still rely on paper-based reviews; (ii) “strengthen cybersecurity in a Department-wide plan to strategically enhance existing security systems and preempt fragmentation of information technology management across the bureaus”; (iii) “prioritize funding for Treasury’s array of economic enforcement tools”; (iv) “eliminate funding for Community Development Financial Institutions Fund grants”; (v) “empower the Treasury Secretary, as Chairperson of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, to ‘end taxpayer bailouts and foster economic growth by advancing financial regulatory reforms that promote market discipline and ensure the accountability of financial regulators;’” and (vi) “shrink the Federal workforce” while increasing its efficiency by redirecting resources away from "duplicative" policy offices.
In response to the proposed budget, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin released the following statement:
"President Trump’s discretionary budget plan released today focuses Treasury on our core missions of collecting revenue, managing the nation’s debt, protecting the financial system from threats, and combating financial crime and terrorism financing. It will ensure that we have the resources we need to enforce the nation’s tax laws, while investing in cybersecurity and prioritizing resources on initiatives that promote technology, efficiency and modernization across the agency."
Credit Union Trade Association Submits Letter in Support of Proposed CFPB Exemption
On March 5, Credit Union National Association (CUNA) President Jim Nussle submitted a letter to Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas), supporting his introduction of H.R. 1264—the Community Financial Institution Exemption Act. The bill, referred to the House Financial Services Committee on February 28, provides an exemption from rules and regulations of the CFPB for community financial institutions with under $50 billion in assets. “The rules are, in large part, implemented to address abuses perpetrated by the large institutions and other previously nonregulated providers, and not small institutions like credit unions and small banks,” Nussle wrote. “While we believe that the statute presently provides the CFPB authority to exempt credit unions under $50 billion from its rulemaking, the bureau has been unwilling to effectively use the exemption authority.”
House Bill Focuses on Collection of Debts Owed to Federal Agencies
In February, Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) introduced the Stop Debt Collection Abuse Act of 2017 (H.R. 864)—legislation seeking to extend the scope of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) to cover the activities of private debt collectors working on behalf of federal government agencies. Specifically, the proposed bill expands the definition of debt subject to the FDCPA to cover obligations—including loans, overpayments, fines, past-due penalties, and late fees—owed to a federal agency. Under the proposed new law, a debt collector includes any person who regularly collects debts currently or originally owed or allegedly owed to a federal agency. Moreover, the bill also requires that any fees charged by private debt collectors seeking to collect debt owed to a federal agency are limited to: (i) reasonable amounts in relation to the actual costs of the collection; (ii) fees authorized by a contract between the debt collector and the federal agency; and (iii) amounts not greater than 10 percent of the amount collected by the debt collector. H.R. 864, which is currently pending before the House committee on Financial Services, is co-sponsored by Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), French Hill (R-Ark.), and Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.).
Ajit Pai Nominated to a Second Term as FCC Chairman
On March 7, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Ajit V. Pai for a second five-year term as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The five-year appointment would span from July 1, 2016, when Pai’s first term officially ended, to 2021. FCC commissioners are able to stay on at the agency for an additional year, but Pai would have to secure confirmation from the Senate to continue beyond that time. At present, two spots still remain left to be filled in order for the Commission to get it back to full capacity. Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and Republican Commissioner Michael O’Rielly are the other two current commissioners.
Mr. Pai was designated acting Chairman of the FCC by President Trump in January 2017. He had previously served as Commissioner at the FCC, appointed by then-President Barack Obama and confirmed unanimously by the Senate in May 2012. Before this, Mr. Pai was a Partner at Jenner & Block, LLP from 2011 until 2012, and Deputy General Counsel, Associate General Counsel, and Special Advisor to the General Counsel at the FCC from 2007 until 2011. In a statement released by the FCC, Pai affirmed his commitment to “work[ing] with [his] colleagues to connect all Americans with digital opportunity, foster innovation, protect consumers, promote public safety, and make the FCC more open and transparent to the American people.” In a separate statement, Chairman Pai also announced the appointment of two staff members to the Office of the Chairman—Nathan Leamer, who will serve as the Chairman’s Policy Advisor, and Carlos Minnix, who will serve as a Staff Assistant.
Chairman Pai’s FCC website bio can be accessed here.
FSOC Releases March 2 Treasury Meeting Readout
On March 2, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, convened an executive session meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), to receive updates on global economic and market developments and initial staff work on the Council’s 2017 annual report. The agenda also included discussions on the “ongoing annual reevaluation of [the Council’s] designation of a nonbank financial company, including the review of materials submitted by the company and engagement with the company.”
President Trump Hosts “National Economic Council” Listening Session with CEOs of Small and Community Banks
On March 9, President Trump met with 11 community bank CEOs at the White House seeking the bankers’ input on which regulations may be crimping their ability to lend to consumers and small businesses. The meeting included representatives from the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), and the American Bankers Association (ABA), as well as nine bank executives from across the country. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, National Economic Council Chairman Gary Cohn, and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus also were present.
The President started the meeting by noting that “[n]early half of all private-sector workers are employed by small businesses” and that “[c]ommunity banks are the backbone of small business in America” before announcing his commitment to “preserving our community banks.” Following the President’s brief opening remarks, the attendees had the opportunity to introduce themselves and share specific examples of how excessive regulatory burdens affect their ability to serve their customers, make loans and create jobs at the local level. Proposals, such as the ICBA’s Plan for Prosperity, also were discussed.
Following the meeting, ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols released a statement “commend[ing] President Trump for meeting with community bankers to hear the challenges they face serving their clients.” He described the meeting as “an important step” toward re-examining the “highly prescriptive rules” that have created a “regulatory environment” in which “mortgages don’t get made, small businesses don’t get created and banks find it more difficult to make the loans that drive job creation.” The ICBA also issued a post-meeting Press Release, in which their Chairman, Rebeca Romero Rainey, explained that among the items discussed at the meeting was the ICBA’s “Plan for Prosperity”—a “pro-growth platform to eliminate onerous regulatory burdens on community banks” that “includes provisions to cut regulatory red tape, improve access to capital, strengthen accountability in bank exams, incentivize credit in rural America and more.” The ICBA Chairman also confirmed that the Association “looks forward to continuing to work with President Trump, his administration and Congress to advance common-sense regulatory relief that will support communities nationwide.”
Also weighing in was House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), who issued a press release praising the President for “listening to the concerns of community bankers who have been buried under an avalanche of burdensome regulations as a result of Dodd-Frank.” Chairman Hensarling also took the opportunity to tout the Financial CHOICE Act, his bill that would make sweeping amendments to the Dodd-Frank Act. According to Chairman Hensarling, GOP members on the Financial Services Committee are “eager to work with the President and his administration this year to fulfill the pledge to dismantle Dodd-Frank and unclog the arteries of our financial system so the lifeblood of capital can flow more freely and create jobs.”