Executive Letter: WBA’s Regulatory Advocacy Through Comment Letters
By Rose Oswald Poels
One of WBA’s primary roles is to advocate for the banking industry. Much of the focus of staff and bankers is on our collective legislative advocacy. In addition to legislative advocacy, WBA also works hard to advocate for the industry through our involvement in court cases by filing an amicus curiae brief, and through our comment letter writing and meetings with regulators. Given the number of regulations the banking industry must manage, regulatory advocacy is critical. In the last few months, WBA has been busy on that front on several key issues affecting the industry.
Comment letters are an excellent mechanism for federal agencies to hear about the impact their regulations have on the banking industry. WBA’s legal team has been busy ensuring that federal banking regulators understand the impact their proposed rules have on Wisconsin’s banks. One of the recent comment letters filed by WBA was with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), responding to CFPB’s request for information regarding fees imposed in residential mortgage transactions. CFPB’s request arose in response to recent studies, and claims that “junk fees” are driving up housing costs.
In our comment letter, WBA expressed concerns with CFPB’s characterization of mortgage fees and commented that CFPB should not inappropriately prejudge and inaccurately categorize legitimate and necessary fees as junk fees. WBA emphasized that Wisconsin banks don’t add fees to loan costs other than necessary fees and provided numerous and specific examples of loan costs.
WBA also filed comments on CFPB’s interim final rule to extend the compliance dates for its 2023 small business lending rule (1071 rule). The interim final rule extends the 1071 compliance dates 290 days to compensate for the period that was stayed by court order (July 31, 2023 to May 16, 2024). WBA expressed that we still hold significant concerns regarding the scope and negative impact of the 1071 rule but appreciate CFPB’s prompt issuance of clear time periods clarifying the new compliance dates.
WBA also encourages bankers to get involved in our regulatory advocacy work through writing comment letters or attending meetings with regulators. Every October, I take a small group of bankers with me to Washington, D.C. for the purpose of meeting with federal banking regulators. The dates this year are October 21–22, 2024. While we are still in the process of scheduling the meetings, I am hoping to meet with senior officials from the FDIC, Federal Reserve, OCC, CFPB, FHFA, and SBA. If you are interested in joining me on this year’s trip, or would like to learn more, please contact me at your earliest convenience as I limit our group size to around 12 bankers. As with our legislative and judicial advocacy, WBA will continue to fight for the industry through our ongoing active regulatory advocacy as well.
