For years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has acknowledged that credit unions are not the reason behind many of their regulations. Large Wall Street banks are. Unfortunately, while the bureau has authority to protect credit unions from regulations aimed at those big banks, it has not. The costs of complying with these regulations, despite their not being the intended target, have been significant for Maine credit unions.

Recently, Sen. Susan Collins cast a vote that did what the bureau would not: It helped credit unions and other community financial institutions. That vote involved repealing an arbitration rule that the bureau issued, a rule that would have encouraged frivolous lawsuits and taken resources from the members (Maine individuals, families and small businesses) who own our credit union.

I was glad I had the opportunity to join other credit union leaders last month in meeting with Sen. Collins to discuss how community financial institutions, like ours, would have been harmed by the overly broad arbitration rule.

Sen. Collins recognized that it was consumers who would, ultimately, pay the price of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposal. I appreciate her support and thank her for her vote to overturn this misguided rule. Her vote enables us to better focus on what really matters – our members.

Roger Sirois

president and CEO, Atlantic Federal Credit Union

Brunswick