Senators Cite BPC Report at Banking Committee Hearing

BPC’s Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative’s recent report on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) figured prominently in this Tuesday’s hearing where CFPB Director Richard Cordray testified to the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. The report, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Measuring the Progress of a New Agency, included over 30 recommendations on how to improve the operations of the CFPB, many of which were mentioned by the Senators

Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) asked Director Cordray about the report’s recommendation that the Bureau gather greater input from a diverse group of interested parties in a wider variety of parties before issuing substantive guidance. Cordray agreed with the report’s recommendation and stated that the CFPB intends to put that recommendation into practice by injecting “a little more openness and transparency” through an upcoming public forum.

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) raised the report’s recommendation that Congress reconsider its exclusion on the CFPB’s jurisdiction over regulating lending from auto dealers. Warren agreed with the report’s recommendation, stating that it, “makes no sense to me that there should be any exception here for consumers who are being tricked out of billions of dollars every year on car loans.” Director Cordray shared that the Bureau has concerns with some practices in the auto lending marketplace.

View the hearing here (mentions by Senator Corker at 49:55, Senator Toomey at 1:18:55, and Senator Warren at 1:24:45)