Members of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Credit Union Advisory Council told  Credit Union Times that CFPB officials listen to credit union concerns and seem to understand the unique relationships between credit unions and their members. However, they said, CFPB officials don't have an answer for why they can't simply exempt credit unions altogether from some or all regulations.

John Buckley, president/CEO of the $124 million Gerber FCU of Fremont, Mich., attended the council's March 12 meeting in Washington. He said while CFPB officials seem to appreciate that credit unions didn't cause the housing meltdown, they also seem to feel constrained by Dodd-Frank and the law's congressional mandates, which "doesn't really allow for common sense implementation."

The 15 council members have stressed the differences between credit unions and community banks, he said. In particular, they have tried to explain to CFPB officials that the CFPB's mission to protect financial consumers from shareholders doesn't really apply to credit unions because credit union shareholders are also the consumers.