Collection Industry Leaders Meet in DC to Discuss Regulation

Stephanie Eidelman

Last week, insideARM.com hosted an ARM Regulatory Summit in Washington, D.C., for large market participants as well as the leadership of ACA International, DBA International, the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys (NARCA), and other industry thought leaders, such as prominent ARM defense attorneys. The event was attended by approximately 150 senior executives, with underwriting by Interactive Intelligence and LexisNexis.

Speakers on the first day of the Summit included Peggy Twohig, Team Lead, Nonbank Supervision, Office of Supervision and Enforcement – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Kris Monteith, Acting Chief, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau – Federal Communications Commission; and Riley Dolan, Assistant Director, Division of Financial Practices – Federal Trade Commission. We’ll cover more on their remarks in upcoming posts.

The second day was devoted to professionally facilitated discussion among the participants about the most significant issues facing the industry. The primary areas of focus included establishing a united industry front with respect to priorities and messaging to regulators and others, identifying the areas of greatest risk to the industry and beginning to formulate strategies to address them, and formulating a common approach to compliance management and an enforceable “code of conduct” that sets legitimate ARM businesses apart in the eyes of regulators and the public.

Attendees were engaged. They had the much-appreciated opportunity to interact with their large market peers, and they began a dialogue that all acknowledged is critical to the industry.

A group of Summit participants discuss a specific issue in a working breakout session.

The issues discussed at the Summit are significant and will not be solved in any one meeting.  It was agreed that the conversation, and the collaboration, must continue. Notes from the session were shared with all attendees in order to facilitate on-going efforts, and association leaders all pledged to weave these topics into their scheduled meetings.

insideARM has collected feedback on the event and will tweak future Summits to be even more focused on delivering the collaborative outcomes needed to move the industry forward.