Joining a national movement, a Missouri advocacy group launched a statewide campaign to defend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
U.S. Congress created the bureau after the economic collapse in 2008 to serve as a watchdog for consumers and reduce the risk of another collapse.
MOPIRG, a nonprofit and non-partisan public interest advocacy organization, launched the campaign as a preventative measure against the attacks that are expected to proceed the change in White House administration next year.
“Wall Street banks and other financial institutions have attacked the agency since before it was even created,” said Julia Eddy, lead organizer of the MOPIRG campaign. “The attacks have intensified as the CFPB continues to be the poster child of a government agency that is actually working and has not been corrupted by the industry it is tasked with regulating.”
At a November 23 press conference at the St. Louis Public Library Schlafly Branch, Eddy stated that the bureau has already returned nearly $12 billion to more than 27 million consumers by holding companies accountable for breaking the law.
Additionally, the bureau’s website hosts a complaint database that has processed over 1 million complaints, Eddy said, and it provides educational resources to make important financial decisions. Over 12,500 complaints from Missouri have been published in the database.
However, the bureau currently faces three major attacks, she said. A single director, Richard Cordray, currently heads the agency, but there are efforts to change the structure to a commission of five people.
“Getting Richard Cordray confirmed was a long uphill battle,” she said. “Getting five people confirmed would be even more difficult, possibly leaving the agency unable to fully function. Or the five seats could be stacked in favor of the industry it is meant to rein in. We have seen both scenarios at other agencies.”
Its funding structure is also being threatened, Eddy said. The bureau is currently funded independently through the Federal Reserve like every banking regulator has been since the 1800s.
“There is an effort to bring the CFPB’s funding under Congressional appropriations approval – this means Congress could starve it death so it wouldn’t be able to do its job because the lobbyists dominate funding decisions,” Eddy said.
The bureau is currently working on rules that would protect consumers from payday debt traps and forced arbitration, she said. Forced arbitration is used to prevent consumers from banding together and joining class action lawsuits to seek justice when they are wronged by financial companies.
“There are efforts to hamstring the CFPB’s work on these rules,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) has sided with big Wall Street banks and other financial institutions by supporting legislation that “would keep the rules rigged against consumers by adding roadblocks and narrowing its jurisdiction,” Eddy said. MOPIRG is calling on U.S. Representatives Ann Wagner, Luetkemeyer and Vicky Hartzler to “stop these self-serving attacks,” she said.
Over the next few weeks, MOPIRG will be circulating a “coalition letter” to unite regional groups and organizations that have been doing work to protect the bureau.
The letter to Missouri’s congressmen firmly states: “Please oppose alterations to the agency’s leadership structure, funding, or oversight authority. We urge you to take a strong stand for, not against, a fairer, more transparent and safer financial system without tricks and traps.”
For more information about the campaign, contact Julia Eddy at jeddy@mopirg.org.
