AUSTIN, TX — The Independent Bankers Association of Texas (IBAT) today joined the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Longview Chamber of Commerce, Texas Bankers Association, Texas Association of Business, the American Bankers Association, and the Consumer Bankers Association in filing a lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Rohit Chopra in his official capacity as director of the CFPB. The litigation challenges the CFPB’s recent update to the Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP) section of the CFPB’s exam manual because it exceeds its statutory authority and violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in three ways: the Bureau is exceeding its statutory authority outlined in the Dodd-Frank Act, the updated manual is “arbitrary” and “capricious,” and it violates the APA’s procedural requirements because it constitutes a legislative rule that failed to go through notice and comment. The suit further challenges the CFPB by calling into question the Bureau’s funding structure.
In their filing, IBAT and its co-plaintiffs make clear that the groups and their respective members fully support the fair enforcement of the nation’s nondiscrimination laws, yet “they cannot stand by while a federal agency exceeds its statutory authority, creates regulatory uncertainty, and imposes costly burdens on the business community. Especially when the CFPB did not even give the public an opportunity to raise concerns through the APA’s notice-and-comment process. This Court’s intervention is needed to ensure that the CFPB is accountable to legal constraints, the rule of law, and the public as it pursues an aggressive agenda with far-reaching implications for the American economy, Plaintiffs, and their members.”
“The CFPB is not above the law and it cannot act without accountability,” said IBAT President and CEO Christopher Williston. “This action was necessary to ensure that the CFPB is held accountable to the rule of law.”
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, is available here.
