The new Consumer Finanical Protection Bureau should wait until a director is confirmed before it issues any rules said the US Chamber of Commerce and other groups on Tuesday.
In a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the Chamber and 13 other groups warned that without a director, Congress would be unable to oversee the new agency. Therefore, the agency should postpose issuing any new rules.
“The Dodd Frank Act gave the CFPB tremendous power, with virtually no oversight, to go after bad actors,” said Jess Sharp, executive director for the Chamber’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness. “If that power isn’t used carefully, there could be serious collateral damage to America’s job creators.”
Elizabeth Warren was named the special assistant to the President in charge of setting up the new agency, but the bureau still requires a director to go through the Senate confirmation process. The business groups say the bureau should defer even proposing new rules, as well as any kind of enforcement to carry out the new laws, until the Senate confirms a new director.
While the Chamber said it supports sound consumer protection regulation, there are several areas of concern that could threaten small and main street business.
“The decisions made over the next several months, both before and after the handoff to the new CFPB, will shape the consumer financial regulatory environment for years to come,” Sharp said. “We look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to develop a new bureau to help achieve these objectives.”
View a copy of the letter here.
