U.S. Chamber, bank groups sue CFPB for expanding supervisory remit

A group of banking and business associations sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for overstepping its authority when the agency indicated it would begin actively searching for discrimination and disparate impacts during supervisory examinations.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, American Bankers Association, and five other banking and business groups filed a lawsuit against the CFPB and its Director Rohit Chopra on Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, challenging the agency’s recent update to the Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices section of its examination manual.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is operating beyond its statutory authority and in the process creating legal uncertainty that will result in fewer financial products available to consumers,” said U.S. Chamber Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley in a press release. “The CFPB is pursuing an ideological agenda that goes well beyond what is authorized by law, and the chamber will not hesitate to hold them accountable.”