Mulvaney Defends Firing Panel Members During Town Hall

CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney said Friday that his agency is expanding its interactions with the financial community, despite having fired the members of three advisory groups this week.

“We’re going to do it in a different way than we’ve done it in the past,” he said at a town hall meeting on elder financial abuse in Topeka, Kan.

Mulvaney this week folded advisory panels on credit unions, community banks and consumers.

He said Friday that “supposedly” the agency is pulling back in its engagement with the public and financial community.

“The exact opposite is true,” he said, adding, “Give us a chance.”

Agency officials have given a variety of reasons for the folding of the groups.

Mulvaney said the panels had gotten too large but added that the bureau is required by federal law to have the three committees.

But he added that he would like to meet with a variety of people rather than the same 30 people a couple of times a year.

Mulvaney said he also would like to be able to have private meetings with representatives of the financial community.

“Sometimes it’s nice to have a discussion that is not leaked out,” he said.

As evidence of the interaction, Mulvaney cited a meeting he had Thursday with credit union officials from Missouri and Kansas.

Following the meeting, Brad Douglas, president/CEO of the Heartland Credit Union praised Mulvaney for meeting with the group.

“Acting Director Mulvaney’s willingness to engage and listen to our concerns is a welcome opportunity for us to share first-hand how federal rules designed for Wall Street can hurt hometown financial institutions like credit unions and the communities they serve,” he said.

Addressing another hot-button issue, Mulvaney said he has not made a final decision about whether to keep the bureau’s complaint database open to the public.

Mulvaney has said that he did not want the database to become a “Yelp” for unverified complaints.