CEO DATELINE - Associations react to Cordray departure
CEO DATELINE - Associations react to Cordray departure
- November 16, 2017 |
-
Walt Williams
Consider joining CEO Update. Membership gives full access to the latest intelligence on association management, career advancement, compensation trends and networking events, as well as hundreds of listings for senior-level association jobs.
Richard Cordray said Wednesday he was stepping down as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—an announcement that generated respectful responses from many associations that had often clashed with the agency chief.
"While we might not have always seen eye-to-eye, he was accessible and we enjoyed a mostly cordial relationship," Consumer Bankers Association CEO Richard Hunt said. "Congress should use this vacancy as an opportunity to establish a bipartisan, Senate-confirmed commission to uphold the Bureau's important mission of consumer protection for the long-term."
CFPB was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers from abuses by banks, payday lenders and other financial service providers. Critics argued the agency had too much power, with Cordray a frequent target of business groups that sought less regulation.
Cordray's critics in the association sector didn't use his announcement to take parting shots. Rather, they thanked him for his service while urging lawmakers to make changes to CFPB.
"The CFPB plays an important role in protecting consumers and we thank Director Cordray for his service," Financial Services Roundtable CEO Tim Pawlenty said. "The Trump administration and Congress should use this opportunity to improve the CFPB by adding a bipartisan board so key decisions are made in a bipartisan and transparent manner with more than just one person involved."
"NAFCU appreciates CFPB Director Richard Cordray's willingness to meet with credit unions and hear their concerns about the impact of the CFPB's rules," National Association of Federal Credit Unions CCEO Dan Berger said. "We continue to believe that credit unions should never have been lumped into the same regulatory bucket as the big banks and look forward to continuing to work with new leadership to address credit union issues."
MORE CEO DATELINE