Kraninger names bureau Consumer Advisory Board, advisory council members

The appointment of 35 individuals across the four panels that advise Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) leadership on consumer financial issues and emerging market trends were announced Thursday by bureau Director Kathleen (“Kathy”) Kraninger.

The bureau issued a solicitation for applications in March to membership on the panels – the Consumer Advisory Board (CAB), Community Bank Advisory Council (CBAC), Credit Union Advisory Council (CUAC), and Academic Research Council (ARC) – with an application deadline of May 5.

With that solicitation, Kraninger also announced several changes affecting these bodies, including membership counts, frequency of meetings, and scope, reversing many of the changes implemented by former Acting Director John (“Mick”) Mulvaney. (Undoing the changes wrought by Mulvaney is also the object of the House-passed Consumers First Act, which is now in the Senate Banking Committee. Mulvaney had revised the councils’ charters to provide for only six members each, with each member serving one year and the panels meeting less frequently.)

Kraninger’s revisions for the advisory committees include, among other things, an expanded focus to cover broad policy matters; increased frequency of in-person meetings from two times a year to three times a year for the CAB, CBAC, and CUAC; elevation of the ARC to a director-level advisory committee and increased meeting frequency; and increased committee membership term lengths from one year to two years.

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

The CBAC, CUAC, and ARC are discretionary panels created by the CFPB’s first director, Richard Cordray. The CBAC and CUAC advise and consult with the CFPB 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.

According to the CFPB’s announcement in March, then-current committee memberships were set to expire in September, with half of the members to receive a one-year extension so the committee memberships are for staggered, two-year terms. The new committee rosters, with those continuing on the CAB, CBAC, and CUAC marked by an asterisk (*), follow:

Consumer Advisory Board (CAB) (12 members)

  • Chair of the CAB – Brent Neiser*, Senior Director, National Endowment for Financial Education (Denver, Colo.)
  • Nikitra Bailey, EVP, Center for Responsible Lending (Durham, N.C.)
  • Nadine Cohen, Managing Attorney, Greater Boston Legal Services (Boston, Mass.)
  • Sameh Elamawy*, CEO, Scratch Services, Inc. (San Francisco, Calif.)
  • Manning Field*, COO, Acorns (Irvine, Calif.)
  • Clint Gwin*, President & CEO, Pathway Lending (Nashville, Tenn.)
  • Ronald Johnson*, Former President, Clark Atlanta University (Atlanta, Ga.)
  • 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, Calif.)
  • Rebecca Steele, President/CEO, National Foundation for Credit Counseling (Washington, D.C.)
  • Tim Welsh, Vice Chairman Consumer and Business Banking, U.S. Bank (Minneapolis, Minn.)

Community Bank Advisory Council (CBAC) (8 members)

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

Credit Union Advisory Council (CUAC) (8 members)

  • Chair of the CUAC – Sean Cahill*, President & CEO, TrueSky Credit Union (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
  • Arlene Babwah*, VP Risk Management, Coastal Federal Credit Union (Raleigh, N.C.)
  • Teresa Campbell*, President & CEO, San Diego County Credit Union (San Diego, Calif.)
  • 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, Wis.)
  • 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, Nev.)

Academic Research Council (ARC) (7 members)

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

CFPB Announces Advisory Committee Members

RR: CFPB advisory panels to meet 3 times a year effective FY2020, terms extended; applications welcome (March 21, 2019)