Along with naming academics, industry leaders and consumer advocates to a trio of committees, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also announced last week that it will establish a taskforce to examine ways to harmonize and modernize federal consumer financial laws.

The bureau explained the Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law will examine the existing legal and regulatory environment facing consumers and financial services providers and report to CFPB director Kathleen Kraninger its recommendations for ways to improve and strengthen consumer financial laws and regulations.

The CFPB continued that the taskforce will produce new research and legal analysis of consumer financial laws in the United States, focusing specifically on:

— Harmonizing, modernizing and updating the enumerated consumer credit laws and their implementing regulations

— Identifying gaps in knowledge that should be addressed through research

— Ways to improve consumer understanding of markets and products

— Potential conflicts or inconsistencies in existing regulations and guidance

“An objective and independent evaluation of our current regulatory framework to identify where there may be gaps or where regulation should be simplified or modernized is needed to help us more effectively carry out our mission of protecting consumers,” Kraninger said in a news release.

“As we work to set up the taskforce, we encourage interested individuals to apply to be considered to be part of the taskforce,” she continued.

The bureau added that this taskforce is in part inspired by an earlier commission established by the Consumer Credit Protection Act in 1968. In addition to various changes to consumer law generally, that act established a national commission to conduct original research and provide Congress with recommendations relating to the regulation of consumer credit.

The commission’s report contains original empirical data, information, and analyses — all of which undergird the report’s final recommendations. The data, findings, and recommendations from the commission were all made public and the report led to significant legislative and regulatory developments in consumer finance.

The bureau went on to mention that will be seeking to fill the taskforce with several members with a broad range of expertise in the areas of:

— Consumer protection and consumer financial products or services

— Significant expertise in analyzing consumer financial markets, laws, and regulations

— Demonstrated record of senior public or academic service

The bureau is accepting applications for members to serve on the taskforce. Go to this website for additional information on the qualifications for members, as well as the process for applying.

CFPB announces advisory committee members

In other news from the regulator, Kraninger also announced the appointment of members to the Consumer Advisory Board (CAB), Community Bank Advisory Council (CBAC), Credit Union Advisory Council (CUAC) and Academic Research Council (ARC). These experts advise bureau leadership on a broad range of consumer financial issues and emerging market trends. 

“The bureau is able to protect consumers in the financial marketplace better when it receives input from a wide range of experts and stakeholders,” Kraninger said in a news release.

“With the enhancements we made earlier this year to the structure of the advisory committee program, I am confident that these groups will be able to hit the ground running in their efforts to provide meaningful feedback on Bureau policy and regulations. I look forward to working with them,” she went on to say.

This past spring, Kraninger announced a series of enhancements to the bureau’s advisory committee charters, including:

— Expanding the focus of the meetings to cover broad policy matters

— Increasing the frequency of in-person meetings from two times a year to three times a year for the CAB, CBAC and CUAC

— Elevating the ARC to a director-level advisory committee and increasing its meeting frequency

— Increasing term lengths from one year to two years, among other enhancements

The CAB is mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to advise and consult with the bureau’s Director on a variety of consumer financial issues.

The bureau also created three additional discretionary councils: the CBAC, CUAC, and ARC. The CBAC and CUAC advise and consult with the bureau on consumer financial issues related to community banks and credit unions. The ARC advises the bureau on its strategic research planning process and research agenda and provides feedback on research methodologies, data collection strategies and methods of analysis, including methodologies and strategies for quantifying the costs and benefits of regulatory actions.

The following members will serve on each of their respective committees:

Consumer Advisory Board (CAB)

Chair of the CAB – Brent Neiser, Senior Director, National Endowment for Financial Education (Denver)

Nikitra Bailey, EVP, Center for Responsible Lending (Durham, N.C.)

Nadine Cohen, Managing Attorney, Greater Boston Legal Services (Boston)

Sameh Elamawy, CEO, Scratch Services, Inc. (San Francisco)

Manning Field, COO, Acorns (Irvine, Calif.)

Clint Gwin, President & CEO, Pathway Lending (Nashville, Tenn.)

Ronald Johnson, Former President, Clark Atlanta University (Atlanta)

Tim Lampkin, CEO, Higher Purpose Co. (Clarksdale, Miss.)

Eric Kaplan, Director – Housing Finance Program, Milken Institute (Washington, D.C.)

Sophie Raseman, Director of Product, Brightside (San Francisco)

Rebecca Steele, President/CEO, National Foundation for Credit Counseling (Washington, D.C.)

Tim Welsh, Vice Chairman Consumer and Business Banking, U.S. Bank (Minneapolis)

Community Bank Advisory Council (CBAC)

Chair of the CBAC – Aubrey Hulings, VP, Operations Manager, The Farmers National Bank of Emlenton (Emlenton, Pa.)

J. Erik Beguin, Founder, CEO and President, Austin Capital Bank (Austin, Texas)

Maureen Busch, VP Compliance and CRA Officer, The Bank of Tampa (Tampa, Fla.)

Patrick Ervin, EVP, Independent Bank (Troy, Mich.)

Shan Hayes, President and CEO, Heartland Tri-State Bank (Elkhart, Kan.)

Bruce Ocko, Senior VP Director of Mortgage & Consumer Lending, Bangor Savings Bank (Bangor, Maine)

Valerie Quiett, SVP and Chief Legal Officer, Mechanics and Farmers (M&F) Bank (Durham, N.C.)

Heidi Sexton, EVP/Chief Compliance and Risk Officer, Sound Community Bank (Seattle)

Credit Union Advisory Council (CUAC)

Chair of the CUAC – Sean Cahill, President & CEO, TrueSky Credit Union (Oklahoma City)

Arlene Babwah, VP Risk Management, Coastal Federal Credit Union (Raleigh, N.C.)

Teresa Campbell, President & CEO, San Diego County Credit Union (San Diego)

Rick Durante, VP, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and Government Affairs, Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union (Chadds Ford, Pa.)

Doe Gregersen, Vice President & General Counsel, Landmark Credit Union (New Berlin, Wisc.)

Brian Holst, General Counsel, Elevations Credit Union (Boulder, Colo.)

Racardo McLaughlin, VP Mortgage Originations/Operations (TwinStar Credit Union, Lacey, Wash.)

Rick Schmidt, President & CEO, WestStar Credit Union (Las Vegas)

Academic Research Council (ARC)

Michael Baye, Bert Elwert Professor of Business Economics, Indiana University (Bloomington, Ind.)

Karen Dynan, Professor of the Practice of Economics, Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)

Terri Friedline, Associate Professor, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

John Lynch, Jr., Director of the Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, Colo.)

Brigitte Madrian, Dean/Marriott distinguished professor, Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah)

Tom Miller, Professor of Finance and Jack R. Lee Chair, Mississippi State University (Starkville, Miss.)

Joshua Wright, Professor, Scalia Law School at George Mason University (Arlington, Va.)