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Invited by the White House, NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger yesterday observed President Donald Trump's signing of the congressional joint resolution to overturn the CFPB's final arbitration rule.The association was the only credit union trade group in attendance.

"NAFCU strongly supports consumer protections, but credit unions were not the bad actors this rule was meant to target," Berger said. "We appreciate President Trump and Congress for their leadership and listening to our concerns and working to ensure consumers and institutions have access to various forms of dispute resolution. NAFCU is honored to have been invited to the White House to watch the undoing of a rule that likely would have had negative effects on the credit union industry."

This year, NAFCU has testified on Capitol Hill eight times – more than any other financial trade group – and held multiple meetings at the White House and with cabinet officials to discuss issues of importance to credit unions.

NAFCU's Berger was one of only a handful of financial industry leaders invited to observe Wednesday's signing. NAFCU Executive Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt was also at the White House.

Released in final form in July, the CFPB's arbitration rule would have prohibited the use of arbitration agreements for the purpose of limiting access to class action litigation. In its comment letter regarding the rule, NAFCU argued that the conclusions derived from the CFPB's final arbitration study were unfounded and did not support the proposal. It warned the rule would have several unintended consequences for credit unions and their members, including increased costs.

Under the Congressional Review Act, legislators can vote to overrule new federal regulations with a joint resolution of disapproval within 60 legislative days after regulators have submitted the rule to Congress. The House passed the resolution disapproving of the arbitration rule in July, and the Senate voted to approve it last week.

NAFCU will continue to meet with administration officials, lawmakers and regulators to advocate on behalf of credit unions on issues impacting the industry.