ICBA, groups: CFPB should reject petition for arbitration rerun

ICBA and other groups urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to deny a recent petition seeking a rulemaking that would ban pre-dispute arbitration provisions in contracts for consumer financial services.

Background: The National Association of Consumer Advocates and other consumer groups petitioned the CFPB to issue a rule addressing the use of mandatory pre-dispute arbitration provisions.

Joint Letter: ICBA and other groups noted that Congress and the White House in 2017 enacted a resolution vacating the CFPB’s previous rule restricting consumer arbitration agreements. That resolution barred the CFPB from issuing a substantially similar rule without congressional approval, and the bureau would have to re-study the issue before proposing a renewed rule, the groups said.

ICBA View: ICBA strongly opposed the CFPB rule, worked with lawmakers to advance a legislative fix, and attended the November 2017 bill signing at the White House. The signing capped a months-long ICBA grassroots campaign that generated nearly 2,000 community banker letters to members of Congress.