American Banker, October 24, 2023, Banking And Community Advocacy Groups Trade Accusations Of Dirty Pool
WASHINGTON — The American Bankers Association and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition are engaged in an unusual exchange of accusations of intimidation and misrepresentation that puts regulators in the middle of the clash, according to letters obtained by American Banker.
The clash centers around a pair of lawsuits brought by the ABA against the CFPB. The first challenges the legality of the bureau’s March 2022 policy change that expands the applicability of the bureau’s authority to punish unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices to include a variety of noncredit financial products like checking and savings accounts. The other is an ABA challenge to the CFPB’s final rule implementing section 1071 of the Dodd Frank Act, which requires banks to disclose data on small-business lending.
“Since Mr. Nichols has raised the very serious allegation that somehow our actions will interfere with the fairness and integrity of the merger or branch opening processes, let me point out the obvious fact that we have no ability to impact the fairness and integrity of those processes, as we are not decision-makers in them,” the NCRC said.
“[Nichols’] letter, then, is really an allegation that you will conduct yourself in some way that lacks integrity. It’s an odd and careless charge, levied at you in response to something unrelated that we did,” the NCRC said. “It’s unfortunate that this is the level of sophistication we have come to witness from the ABA: To argue that unrelated facts and misinformation somehow support some other position they’re attempting to press to their advantage, all the while throwing around unsubstantiated claims.”
