U.S. Chamber Intensifies Campaign for Bipartisan Financial Regulatory Reform

Calls for Alternative Approach on CFPA That Won't Kill Jobs

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today intensified its campaign for an alternative to the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). The Chamber has called for an alternative approach to strengthen consumer protection without creating an agency with unchecked powers and massive authority over the economy. The campaign, including grassroots outreach and national television, radio, and online ads, kicks into high gear today as members of Congress head home for the congressional recess.

"We're taking our call for bipartisan, balanced legislation to the states during the congressional recess, underscoring with the American people that we need financial reform that protects consumers without stifling job growth," said David Hirschmann, president and CEO of the Chamber's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness. "The CFPA as presented in the Dodd bill would make it harder for small businesses to obtain credit and is the wrong approach to consumer protection. Rather than directly addressing the failures in regulation that contributed to the current economic crisis, the CFPA would simply add a new agency with unprecedented power on top of a broken regulatory system."

The Chamber has recommended creating a Consumer Protection Council to ensure coordination of regulatory and enforcement actions among the federal financial regulators. The council would ensure that regulatory gaps are eliminated, prescribe consistent disclosure and examination standards, and identify areas in which new regulations are necessary. The Chamber retained Andy Pincus of Mayer Brown to conduct an analysis of current regulatory problems and develop recommendations to strengthen existing weaknesses and improve consumer protections.

"The CFPA would significantly grow our government and saddle America's job creators with more federal bureaucracy," Hirshmann said. "The current proposals in Congress would also create a fragmented system of regulation that adds inconsistencies and confusion in regulatory standards. This would not improve consumer protections or simplify disclosures; it will make them worse."

The Chamber's television advertisement titled "No Sleep" highlights how Americans are losing sleep over the economy and illustrates the anxieties felt by small business owners as they struggle to get the capital they need to grow and create jobs. It calls on Americans to contact their representatives and urge them to stop the current proposal. Go to: http://www.stopthecfpa.com/ to view the ad. The ads are a part of a multi-million dollar nationwide grassroots campaign which has generated nearly 200,000 letters sent to Capitol Hill urging Congress to stop the CFPA.

Since its inception three years ago, the Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness has led a bipartisan effort to modernize and strengthen the outmoded regulatory systems that have governed our capital markets. The CCMC is committed to working aggressively with the administration, Congress, and global leaders to implement reforms to strengthen the economy, restore investor confidence, and ensure well-functioning capital markets.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.

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