U.S. Chamber of Commerce Statement on Proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency

In advance of the President's remarks today, David Hirschmann, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness (CCMC), issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Chamber's position on the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA):

The Chamber strongly agrees with the President that consumers need more effective protections. Our disagreement is about the best approach to achieve this goal.

We should strengthen enforcement against illegal and predatory practices by expanding the ability of the six current federal regulators tasked with consumer protection to do the job right; we should develop clear, concise, and uniform national disclosures about the risks that financial products pose; we should expand federal rules to close the gaps in regulation; and we should require all regulators to work together to ensure like products are regulated equally.

However, we disagree that a massive new federal agency with unprecedented powers over vast segments of the business community will be good for consumers, for America's job creators or for the economy. We disagree that adding a new agency atop a broken regulatory system solves the problem or closes regulatory gaps. And, we don't agree that consumers are well served by allowing the states to each create different disclosures, and regulations on top of those created by the proposed new regulator.

We will work with the administration and Congress to protect consumers by strengthening the financial system and advancing our economic recovery. However, the CFPA is the wrong approach to solving this problem. The proposed CFPA will exacerbate the weaknesses of the current system that clearly failed, restrict access to credit and make it more costly for consumers and businesses.

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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