Newsroom

January 12, 2018

This week: House panel marks up CFPB relief bill, NAFCU rep testifies on small-biz lending

With the House and Senate back in session, the House Financial Services Committee is poised this week to mark-up more than a dozen bills – including a NAFCU-backed bill that would provide credit unions regulatory relief from the CFPB – as NAFCU prepares to deliver its first congressional testimony of the year on small-business lending.

Tomorrow, the House Financial Services Committee will mark up the NAFCU-backed Community Financial Institution Exemption Act (H.R. 1264), among others. The bill, authored by Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, would raise the CFPB exemption threshold for community institutions to $50 billion in assets and strengthen the bureau's exemption authority.

Last week, NAFCU wrote in support of the CFPB relief bill and others, noting that "regulatory relief is needed both from Congress and the regulators to ensure credit unions have a healthy and appropriate environment that allows them to meet the needs of the nation's 110 million credit union members."

The House Financial Services Committee will begin its mark-up at 10 a.m. Eastern.

In the association's first congressional testimony of 2018, NAFCU witness Sonya McDonald, executive vice president and chief lending officer at Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, also tomorrow will deliver the credit union perspective on how to strengthen the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 7(a) loan program before the House Small Business Committee.

Credit unions actively participate in the SBA program, which helps credit unions mitigate loan risk and maximize small-business lending within their statutory member business loan (MBL) cap. McDonald testified on the same subject before a House Small Business subcommittee last year.

The hearing, "Strengthening SBA's 7(a) Loan Program," is slated to begin at 11 a.m. Eastern.

Congress is also expected to pass another short-term government funding bill this week as current funding for federal government agencies and offices is set to expire Friday.

Republican and Democratic members of Congress continue to be at odds over what should be included in the budget bill, delaying agreement on a long-term funding bill. The two parties have differing views on defense and non-defense spending, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and opioid addiction assistance, among other policy issues.

Also happening this week:

  • Tomorrow, the Senate Banking Committee holds an executive session to revote on the nominations of Federal Reserve Board Gov. Jerome Powell as Fed chairman (succeeding Janet Yellen) and Gov. Randall Quarles to a full board term. The committee will then move to an open hearing on reforming and strengthening Bank Secrecy Act enforcement. (Read more)
  • NAFCU's compliance team tomorrow will provide member credit unions an update on recent CFPB and NCUA guidance, rules and regulations. The webcast is free, but registration is required.
  • NAFCU's regulatory affairs team is meeting with CFPB staff tomorrow to discuss small business data collection under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
  • Also tomorrow, NAFCU Regulatory Affairs Counsel Ann Kossachev attends a roundtable on credit scoring models. The roundtable, hosted by VantageScore, is related to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's request for input on whether to change the current credit score requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
  • Thursday, Kossachev is attending an event focused on financial regulation and housing finance reform with Treasury Counselor Craig Phillips.
  • Friday is the compliance deadline for the NCUA's final rule amending its Chartering and Field of Membership Manual to redefine "in danger of insolvency" for emergency mergers.