Wisconsin Banking Group Head, hoping for less regulations according to Trump – WisConsin Public Radio News

The Wisconsin won industry expects that continuing changes to the new Trump administration can affect the borrowers in the country.

Rose Oswald Poels is president and CEO of the Wisconsin Bankers Association. She says that at a conference of banking executives held in early February, the potential for regulatory changes within the new administration was at the forefront.

“There is a lot of interest in seeing if we can get the regulatory pendulum, which has turned a little too far to the final back in the center and have more reasonable regulation and supervision of the industry,” Paul told Wisconsin Today.

Poels indicated section 1071, a specific rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB, that it says “is a huge burden for the banking industry.”

“This would require the owners and farmers of small businesses to give over 81 data points every time they want to borrow money … Then there is a huge confidential issue of what is happening with the data,” Pols said.

However, just days after the summit, the Trump administration ordered CFPB to terminate the bigger part of its operations.

Poels discussed the opinion of its industry about CFPB’s work and what “new normal” in mortgage rates means to banks and borrowers.

The following was edited for clarity and brevity.

Kate Archer Kent: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is the Consumer Protection Protection. It took place after the 2008 financial crisis to ensure that mortgage companies follow the rules. Should the Wisconsin banks do something to help protect or calm customers?

Rose Oswald Poels: Wisconsin banks have always done it. I think they are very reliable sources of advice and protection of their money and their data. They spend millions of dollars every year to make sure that consumers are protected from any type of cyber threat, including violations of the sales of debit or credit cards to people, check fraud and other fraud.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is an agency that, as you mentioned, was created because of what happened, mainly with mortgage bankers and brokers that are not as regulated as the banking industry. We prefer CFPB to focus more on unregulated lenders and others who are in the space of the financial institution rather than to create rules such as [Section 1071] that go after a problem that does not exist.

KAK: The Trump administration says it is trying to limit the work of federal agencies, which they think are excessive. Do you think the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is excessive?

Rop: Yes. I think that if it remains on the mission in its original form, focus on unregulated industries like some in the mortgage industry, the banking industry will have no concern about this. But he was given very broad powers to write rules. The legal work behind the writing rules was transferred from the Federal Reserve to CFPB when it was created, which gave it a lot of power to be able to put extreme rules as section 1071 on the spot against the banking industry. So I think we have seen the mission crawl and again something that we would very much like to see how it goes back.

KAK: The President of the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago has recently spoke to Marketplace about the need to be “more appreciative and more prudent” about lowering interest rates at this point. How do Wisconsin bankers approach the uncertainty in our economy?

Rop: We work most with our customers, especially for borrowers, and especially for new ones, for the first time, home borrowers. I think we live in more new normal time when it comes to mortgage rates. And so I have always encouraged users to enter and talk to your banker about what your needs are and qualify before you go to a house hunt. As the supply is still low, Wisconsin prices are still quite high in much more urban markets throughout the country. I think it’s important to understand what financially makes sense to you before you start engaging with brokers and going out to buy your home. It would be wise to talk to a creditor before you get involved in this process.