Arbitration

Arbitration has been used as an alternative to litigation as a method of amicably resolving disputes for over 80 years. In many cases, arbitration has benefited consumers by providing quicker and less expensive alternatives to litigation. Also, consumers with low value claims tend to benefit from the arbitration process, as attorneys are more reluctant to represent consumers that have low value claims. CBA believes arbitration can be a less costly and more effective method of dispute resolution for consumers and businesses, and attempts to ban pre-dispute arbitration are potentially harmful to consumers and may result in increased costs to consumers and unnecessary delay in deciding controversies arising from disputes. CBA believes arbitration is a meaningful and effective process for consumers and businesses to resolve disputes, and CBA is committed to efforts to oppose anti-arbitration legislation.
  • August 26, 2016
    CBA Board Chairman Will Howle Appointed to CFPB Board Last week, the CFPB announced new appointments to its advisory board and councils, three of whom are CBA members. The Bureau appointed CBA Board Chairman Will Howle, President of U.S. Retail Banking at Citi, to serve on its Consumer Advisory Board; Cal Ratcliff , former CBA CFPB Committee Chairman, current CFPB Committee member and Bank of...
  • August 24, 2016
    One of the noteworthy quotes from those old Bugs Bunny cartoons that involved Marvin the Martian included the phrase, “Well, back to the old drawing board.” That phrase also summarized the sentiment the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Bankers Association and the Financial Services Roundtable emphasized when they crafted and submitted a 42-page rebuttal for the Consumer Financial...
  • August 23, 2016
    The Consumer Bankers Association submitted a public comment in opposition of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposed arbitration rule yesterday, just under the wire. The public comment period for the proposed rule also ended yesterday. “The proposed rule should not be made final, as proposed, because it is not in the public interest or for the protection of consumers,” CBA said in its...
  • August 22, 2016
    August 22, 2016 The Honorable Richard Cordray Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 1700 G Street N.W. Washington, DC 20552 Re: Comments on the Bureau’s Proposed Arbitration Rule Dear Director Cordray: The American Bankers Association,1 the Consumer Bankers Association and the Financial Services Roundtable (collectively, the Associations) appreciate the opportunity to provide comments regarding...
  • August 22, 2016
    On Monday, August 22, 2016, CBA and other trades filed a comment letter on the CFPB’s arbitration rulemaking proposal. CBA argued no final rule should be issued since the CFPB has yet to meet its statutory burden under section 1028 of the Dodd-Frank Act. This law requires any regulation of arbitration by the CFPB to be in the public interest, for the protection of consumers, and consistent with...
  • August 22, 2016
    Ms. Monica Jackson Office of the Executive Secretary Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 1700 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20552 Re: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Arbitration Agreements (Docket ID No. CFPB-2016-0020; RIN 3170-AA51) Dear Ms. Jackson: The undersigned associations and organizations, which collectively represent hundreds of thousands of businesses that employ millions of Americans...
  • August 17, 2016
    On Wednesday, August 17, 2016, ahead of the comment deadline for the CFPB’s arbitration rulemaking, the Pew Charitable Trusts issued an update to its annual arbitration research. In this update, Pew shows: a 6 point year-over-year increase in the use of mandatory arbitration agreements, 95 percent of consumers want the option to have a court settle their disputes, and 89 percent of consumers want...
  • August 3, 2016
    On Wednesday, August 3, 2016, more than 100 congressional Democrats sent two separate letters to the CFPB supporting its proposed arbitration rule which would ban class action waivers in financial products and services agreements. The Senate letter expressed concern that forced arbitration favors financial institutions at the expense of consumers and claimed arbitration clauses frequently prevent...
  • June 28, 2016
    On May 5, 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) held its fourth field hearing on Arbitration and issued a proposed Rule that would prohibit the use of arbitration clauses that block consumers’ participation in class actions in contracts for consumer financial products and services. The Rule would also require providers who use pre-dispute arbitration agreements to submit certain...
  • June 21, 2016
    June 21, 2016 The Honorable Paul Ryan The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker Minority Leader U.S. House of Representatives U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Speaker Ryan and Minority Leader Pelosi: On behalf of the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), I write to express our support for H.R. 5485, the Fiscal Year 2017 Financial Services and General...

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