RSSAfter dissolving its three advisory boards earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has formally reconvened them with new members.
New members were announced for the bureau’s Consumer Advisory Board, Community Bank Advisory Council and Credit Union Advisory Council. Only the existence of the Consumer Advisory Board is mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, which also required the CFPB director to meet with it at least twice per year.
Before the boards were dissolved in June, CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney had held only one brief phone meeting with the previous Consumer Advisory Boards and had cancelled multiple in-person meetings. The move drew the ire of members of the Consumer Advisory Board, and then-chair Ann Baddour sent several open letters signed by other CAB members to Mulvaney objecting to the cancellations.
In March, the bureau issued a Federal Notice seeking applications for new members. Former members were not allowed to re-apply after the dissolutions. New members will serve one-year terms, down from previous three-year terms.
Notably, the boards are all less than half the size they were in previous incarnations. The CAB is down to nine members from 25, the community bank council dropped to seven from 19, and the credit union council also has seven, down from 17.
Baddour and six other former CAB members issued a statement in which they called the new CAB a disappointment, both for its size and the shortness of terms. “While each of the individual members is qualified in her or his own right, the fact that there are so few of them means that Acting Bureau Director Mulvaney’s CAB lacks sufficient diversity and depth of perspective,” the group said in the statement. “One year does not permit members to provide the type of rich feedback and perspective that traditionally has been the role of the CAB.”
When the boards were dissolved, a spokesman for the bureau characterized the decision as a cost-saving measure, ensuring “streamlined discussions about the bureau’s policy priorities and needs in a productive manner,” the agency said in an email sent to CAB members at the time.
Consumer Advisory Board members are:
Liz Coyle, executive director, Georgia Watch
Sameh Elamawy, CEO, Scratch Services, Inc.
Manning Field, chief operating officer, Acorns
Jason B. Gross, CEO, Petal
Clinton B. Gwin, president and CEO, Pathway Lending
Ronald A. 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
Luz Urrutia, CEO, Opportunity Fund
Community Bank Advisory Council members are:
John Erik Beguin, founder, CEO, and president, Austin Capital Bank, Austin, Texas
Bryan Bruns, president and CEO, Lake Central Bank, Annandale, Minn.
Maureen Busch, vice president, compliance and CRA officer, The Bank of Tampa, Fla.
Michael H. Head, president, CEO and Director, First Federal Savings Bank, Evansville, Ind.
Aubery L. Hulings, vice president and operations manager, The Farmers National Bank of Emlenton, Pa.
Heidi Sexton, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Sound Community Bank, Seattle
Jeanni Stahl, SVP/Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, MetaBank, Sioux Falls
Credit Union Advisory Council members are:
Arlene Babwah, vice president risk management, Coastal Federal Credit Union, Raleigh, N.C.
Sean Cahill, president and CEO, Southwest 66 Credit Union, Odessa, Texas
Teresa Campbell, president and CEO, San Diego County Credit Union, San Diego
Christopher Court, vice president of accounting & operations, Service 1st Federal Credit Union, Sioux Falls
James Hunsanger, chief risk officer, Michigan State University Federal Credit Union, East Lansing
Bryan Price, president and CEO, Indiana University Credit Union, Bloomington
Eric Schmidt, president and CEO, WestStar Credit Union, Las Vegas
The three advisory committees provide advice to bureau leadership on a broad range of consumer financial issues and emerging market trends.
“I am appointing experts to the bureau’s advisory committees who will bring a fresh perspective to our important work,” Mulvaney said. “These experts are highly talented individuals in consumer finance markets, and we look forward to working closely with them throughout their service.”
