A fight between regulators escalated Monday when President Trump’s acting national banking regulator urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to delay a rule barring mandatory arbitration requirements between financial firms and customers, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika yesterday asked CFPB Director Richard Cordray to halt the rule, which could ease the way for class-action litigation against companies, until his office can assess the data behind the rule and verify it won’t put banks in financial risk. The letter is the third between Noreika and Cordray since the CFPB announced its arbitration rule last Monday. “The OCC should be granted the opportunity to conduct an independent review of the CFPB data to determine the safety and soundness implications of the Final Rule,” Noreika wrote. Noreika raised concerns about the rule the day it was announced by the CFPB, saying that it presented potential risks for banks. He said that the CFPB rule could allow lawsuits that could harm a bank’s reputation and financial performance, and ultimately drive up bank costs on consumers. Cordray responded to the acting comptroller on Wednesday, saying that he was “surprised” by the OCC’s letter. “At no time during the (two-year process of preparing the rule) did anyone from the OCC express any suggestion that the rule that was under development could threaten the safety and soundness of the banking system,” Cordray said in the July 12 letter.
