The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has announced the appointment of new experts from outside the federal government to the Consumer Advisory Board, Community Bank Advisory Council, and Credit Union Advisory Council.

The Bureau’s advisory committees include representatives from industry, academia, and consumer advocacy organizations who advise and inform it of potential emerging threats, providing advice to the CFPB’s leadership on a broad range of consumer financial issues and emerging market trends.

“These experts are highly talented individuals in consumer finance markets, and we look forward to working closely with them throughout their service,” said Acting Director Mick Mulvaney.

The Dodd-Frank Act charges the Bureau with establishing a Consumer Advisory Board to advise and consult with the director on a variety of consumer financial issues. The Bureau also created a Community Bank Advisory Council and a Credit Union Advisory Council. The Community Bank Advisory Council and Credit Union Advisory Council advise and consult with the Bureau on consumer financial issues related to community banks and credit unions.

In March 2018, the Bureau issued a notice in the Federal Register outlining the responsibilities of the advisory committees, as well as the duties of its members, and solicited applications for appointment.

The newly appointed members include experts in consumer protection, financial services, FinTech, community development, fair lending, civil rights, and consumer financial products and services as well as representatives of community banks and credit unions.

New members to the Consumer Advisory Board, Community Bank Advisory Council, and Credit Union Advisory Council will serve a one-year term.

Consumer Advisory Board Members include: Liz Coyle, executive director, Georgia Watch; Sameh Elamawy, chief executive officer, Scratch Services; Manning Field, chief operating officer, Acorns; Jason Gross, chief executive officer, Petal; Clinton Gwin, president and CEO, Pathway Lending; Ronald Johnson, president, Clark Atlanta University; Brent Neiser, senior director of strategic programs and alliances, National Endowment for Financial Education; Sophie Raseman, director of product, Brightside; and Luz Urrutia, chief executive officer, Opportunity Fund.

New Community Bank Advisory Council members include: John Erik Beguin, founder, CEO, and president, Austin Capital Bank; Bryan Bruns, president and CEO, Lake Central Bank; Maureen Busch, vice president, compliance and Community Reinvestment Act officer, The Bank of Tampa; Michael Head, president/CEO/director, First Federal Savings Bank; Aubery Hulings, vice president, operations Manager, The Farmers National Bank of Emlenton; Heidi Sexton, EVP/Chief Operating Officer, Sound Community Bank; and Jeanni Stahl, SVP/chief risk and compliance officer, MetaBank.

Credit Union Advisory Council members will include: Arlene Babwah, vice president, Risk Management, Coastal Federal Credit Union; Sean Cahill, President & CEO, Southwest 66 Credit Union; Teresa Campbell, president and CEO, San Diego County Credit Union; Christopher Court, Vice President, Accounting & Operations, Service 1st Federal Credit Union; James Hunsanger, Chief Risk Officer, Michigan State University Federal Credit Union; Bryan Price, president and CEO, Indiana University Credit Union; and Eric Schmidt, president and CEO, WestStar Credit Union.

The new appointments come after Mulvaney stirred controversy in June by disbanding his agency’s Consumer Advisory Board, dismissing the 25 outside experts who were intended to help shape agency policy. It was the latest in a series of moves to reshape the Bureau into Mulvaney’s more business-friendly vision and satisfy Republicans who have derided the largely autonomous agency since it opened its doors.

The Bureau, in a conference call, told CAB members, and members of two other advisory boards, that their terms were terminated and that they were not permitted to re-apply should new committees be formed.

The Dodd-Frank Act, when creating the CFPB, required the creation of advisory boards. They were instructed to convene at least two times a year to “advise and consult with the Bureau in the exercise of its functions under the Federal consumer financial laws and to provide information on emerging practices in the consumer financial products and services industry, including regional trends, concerns, and other relevant information.”

Topics