Transcripts For CSPAN2 Hearing 20240704 : comparemela.com

[inaudible conversations] come to order. Without objection the chair is authorized to declare a re cess for the committee at anytime. Entitled bureaucratic overreach for Consumer Protection. Examining the cfpbs latest action to restrict composition in the payments. Without objection all members have five legislative days to submit extraneous materials for inclusion in the record. I want to recognize myself for five minutes to give a opening statement. Todays hearing, bureaucratic overreach or Consumer Protection examining the cfpbs latest action to restrict competition in payments in my view is critical because its going to talk about this large participants in of Digital Consumer payment applications market. This is the sixth lpr that the cfpb has initiated. And putting aside the egregiously short Comment Period which frustrates both members of this committee, the deeply flawed cost benefit analysis which are both have become hallmarks of this administration i find the substance of proposal deeply concerning. The proposal asserts that companies that let you send moneys to friend peertopeer are companies that keep your credit cards information on your phone somehow are in the exact same market. Why . Well just because says so. This breadth of the market the cfpbs trying to define has perplexed many on this committee from potentially covered to both sides of aisle Many Companies are utterly confused whether the rule will be implemented and whether theyre covered by it. I would say this is no accident. Cfpb is trying to net as possible and become a technology regulator. In many more ways than one, this proposal marks is sharp departure from the cfpbs previous large participation rule. Director chopra decided on a whim in my view without justification that Technology Companies pose a threat to consumers and this rule should be viewed as a thinly veiled work around to get cfpb Supervision Team into these Tech Companies. And thats because once an entity is designated as a large participant, the cfpb cannot only supervise the activities which is what i think the intent of doddfrank was, that originally qualify, but they can actually supervise the entities business itself. The proposal attempts to only capturing those companies with five million transactions within a year. So wed love to hear from the panel on is that a good number or a bad number . But dont be fooled this modest threshold is so low the agency will effectively have Carte Blanche to knock down the doors wi fleet of examiners. In the payment space and leave consumers encumbered with fewer firms from whichpayment method. That decreases competition. This lpr doesnt benefit consumers or provide market clarity, in fact the only people this proposal potentially will benefit besides witnesses like you, are compliance to further expand their authority to see if pb decided to capture Digital Assets as well. To see if the assertion of funds includes Digital Assets. This is a novel position and e cfpb justifies interpretation only in a small unassuming footnote. Concerns around that is not particularly partisan. There were questions about the scope and go back to the drawing board and work to protect consumers and not hinder innovation and not expand the cfpbs insatiable power and scope. We appreciate your willingness to work with us. I now yield to the Ranking Member mr. Lynch of massachusetts, five minutes for his opening comment. Thank you, mr. Chairman. And good morning. Id also like to thank all of our Witnesses Today for your willingness to help the committee with its work. It is the fundamental mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to safeguard American Consumers against unfair deceptive and abusive financial practices and discrimination. The cfpb ensures that our markets are for Consumer Products and service operate fairly and efficiently in the interest of consumer access and responsible innovation. In furtherance of the critical mandate cfpb recently proposed a rule as the chairman noted that will allow the agency to exercise Supervisory Authority over companies that offer digital wallets and Payment Services payment apps and electronic funds payment apps. Unfortunately, this will place, apple, google meta otheroved into the Financial Services space on par with Financial Institutions that are already there andject to cfpb supervision. Unlike large banks and Credit Unions such of these companies do not currently undergo cfpb superry exams, periodic monitoring or compliance checks. They may not be required to ensure Company Funds or his area is timely considering the escalation of shadow banking. That is the migration of core banking activities which traditionally fall outside of the banking regulations. And this is growing, given the employment ofpaque technology. And the reached 300 billion dollars and estimated to grow over 150 by 2028. Moreover an estimated twothirds of all americans, of low to moderate income users are now relying on peertopeer Digital Payments such as paypal and ven mowmo many have options. And its not surprising that the consumer advocates strongly support the rules. According to the Consumer Federation of america, quote, we would be concerned whenever the line between congress and banking is committed to blur. By closing this loophole theyre moving forward to hold big Check Companies accountable to play by the rules as everyone else. I agree with that statement. The cfpb is not becoming a check regulator as much as Check Companies areg banks or are becoming involved in the conduct of banking. By subjecting large Check Companies to the same Consumer Privacy standards that apply to Financial Institutions under the federal graham act, protecting consume Data Collection and the monetization of the personal information. Cfpb estimates that the proposed rule would only apply to 17 entities. The agency has also made clear that its supervision of nonbank institution is based on risk size and financial transaction volume as well as the extent of state oversight. That is why the rule includes a threshold of five million Payment Transactions annually. I look forward to hearing from our panel lists this morning and stake holders as this rule making process. Thank you, mr. Chairman and i yield back the balance of my time. The gentleman yields back. We want to thank our witnesses for being here today and making the time. We are youll be recognized for five minutes to give an oral objection your written statements will be made part of the record. We recognize the testimony of mr. Holtshowser, and james kim, Industry Group at troutman troutman. And a Financial Technology policy analyst at the Cato Institute. And christopher, joe witt professor s. Thank you, mr. Ch chairman hill Ranking Member lynch and members of the subcommittee and Digital Assets. Financial technology and innovation thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as rule on defining market. Im executive of net tech the Technology Ceos and promotes the growth of the economy at the 50state level. Our Diverse Membership anging from startup to some of the most icon Iconic Companies on the planet. And we have employees in the fi Artificial Intelligence ecommerce sharing the gig economies, advanced Energy Transportation cyber, Venture Capital and finance. As you know technology plays an important roles in removing barriers to access and empowering americans of all backgrounds to better manage their Financial Life through safe secure inclusive and reliable financial tools, including payment application. Members support efforts by policy makers to adapt and update outdated laws and regulation to meet the growing demand from consumers and businesses for these innovative fin fintec products. Its highly diversified. Companies across the eco system play a wide array of unique roles serving different markets and offering different functionality. And regulations focused on fin fintecs must make sure allowing this economy to flourish. Fails to accomplish those doles. Under doddfrank and the procedures act the bureau must conduct thorough before issuing a proposed rule. The cfpb falls well short of this requirement. Empirical analysis underlying the proposed rule is stark and troubling. Because they failed to follow rule making by congress the proposed rule creates an arbitrary market thats not based on data driven analysis or the reality of the eco Payment System. And fails to identify consumer harms that would necessitate supervision and fails to adequately address the cost. The diversity of companies that can be for the supervision. We strongly feel that these deficiencies render the proposed rule defective. Before moving forward, its critical that the cfpb more narrowly define the Consumer Payments market in which it seeks to supervise and conduct empirical analysis required in the rule making process. At a very basic level the bureau should complete a cost benefit analysis that adequately considers companies that may fall within the purview of the proposed rule. Analyze the cost to the Companies Rather than using conservative estimates, and determine the cost may be the the cost that may be passed on to consumers. Until the cfpb conducts the analysis required of it by law, tech net looks at the policy altogether and the rule in its entirety. Otherwise this rule will introduce tremendous complexity and uncertainty into the Digital Payment markets to the detriment of consumers and businesses across our country. We appreciate the subcommittees look at this important rule. Thank you, youre recognized for five minutes. Thank you for holding this important hearing on the cfpbs proposed larger participant rule making. Im brian johnson, managing director of potomac level previously served as dew point director of the cfpb prior to that i served on the Financial Services committees previously staff. I will address my comments today first to the proposed rule and second to the broader context of recent cfpb action. As members are aware, Congress Gave the cfpb authority to subject socalled larger participants of defined markets for Consumer Financial products and services the supervisory examination. The proposed rule would, if finalized, define a market for general use Digital Consumer payment applications. Larger participants of this market defined as providers of at least the annual Payment Transactions Small Business concerns would be subject to cfpb exam. There are several reasons for members on a bipartisan basis to encourage the cfpb to withdraw and repropose its rule so it may so that it may engage in a more thoughtful deliberatie process. The remarks are the impetus for the proposed rule concerns for Big Tech Companies to engage in various anticompetitive practices. However, the cfpb is not the proper agency to address such concns. Cfpb supervisory duty is for financial law not antitrust law. Proposed rule lacks adequate justification, because its not grounded in Consumer Financial risks arising from the offering or use of covered products and Services Within the defined market. Second the doddfrank act provides the cfpb with no intelligible principle to guide its definition of markets or selection of larger participants. Rather it gives the cfpb Carte Blanche to expand its own supervisy reach. This violates nondelegation principles. Congress should define the cfpbs authority and not the cfpb itself. Third, the proposed market definition is really broad because it aggregates terms rather than describe a coherent market for reasonably interchangeable Financial Products and services. Fourth the c to cover Digital Assets. The effect of which would be to expand its Regulatory Authority over a large number of new products and participants. This would up end careful efforts by members of congress to craft a balanced legislative framework for digal asset regulation. This presents a major question of economic and political significance that must be left to congress to decide. Fifth, the cfpbs cost benefit analysis uses a decade old frame work to calculate the expected cost to the examination. In my view, the bureaus exam understates the true cost of an example by at least an of magnitude. The cfpbs failure to update its assumptions and obtain Accurate Information is a significant weakness in the analysis. Finally, without good cause shown, the cfpb departed from its Standard Practice in order for the public to submit comments on the rule which is contrary to the spirit. Now the cfpb action. Regarding the consequences, i note that cfpb sometimes require institutions to waive attorneyclient privilege and turn over Supreme Court long held that they cannot compel this information without authorization of congress which the cfpb does not have. Which is detrimental to consumers. Also cfpb unlike occ does not publish an annual list of exam priorities. As a result institutions have comparatively less insight into the Compliance Risks and therefore, less opportunity to proactively address them. Regarding rule making recently proposed or finalizes several rules on socalled junk fees as part of a campaign to scapegoat companies for rising prices caused by inflation. The price controls depart from the traditional federal approach to Consumer Finance regulation politicized credit and capital unwarranted market a danger to free markets and consumer autonomy. This isonsumer protection. I urge congress to use all available means to prevent bureaucratic Central Planning and overreach. Thank you, and i welcome the opportunity to al7nswer question. Thank you very much. Mr. Kim, youre recognized for five minutes. Chairman hill Ranking Member lynch and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for inviting me to testify today. My name is james kim. Im a partner at the law firm pepp sanders. Im presenting my views and not those of the firm or any client. Firm. My testimony and the views i expr by my tenure at the cfpb and subsequent practice focusing on payments and technology. My clients at trout and pepper range from banks and other established institution to medium size and Early Stage Companies seeking to introduce Innovative Products a choices for consumers in the marketplace. From 2012 through 2014 i had the privilege of serving at the cfpb where i was the lead attorney in the bureaus first enforcement action by mobile devices and payments. I also work with col supervision and supported examination. And i was a member of an Interdepartmental Working Group focusing on emergin products and since leaving the bureau my practice very much focuses on helping Companies Navigate examinations investigations and rule makings involving an agency. So why is the proposed rule for defining larger participants in the payment space important . Before i answer its worth highlighting that there is no question that Consumer Payments are currently regulated by a host of federal and state laws and rules that are enforced by a combination of the cfpb federal Prudential Commission sin sinfen and agencies. Itoe not change the mayor yad of the regulations, instead the proposed rule is important because it larger participants on the Supervisory Authority. The bureaus power to examine institutions is the a