WASHINGTON — With President Obama’s signature, the most significant overhaul of the nation’s financial system is now law and with it, consumers will still be able to find competitive financing options at auto dealerships.

Ed Tonkin, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), praised the efforts of lawmakers who fought to preserve the existing regulatory structure for dealer-assisted financing, which protects consumers and ensures affordable auto credit.

Tonkin also cautioned that any regulatory overreach could hurt the very people it is looking to protect by disrupting the extremely competitive auto finance marketplace.

Tonkin released the following statement on July 21:

“Car buyers will ultimately benefit from the new law because it preserves dealer-assisted financing as a convenient and affordable option for consumers. The Brownback-Campbell auto dealer language received strong bipartisan support because Congress clearly understood that placing burdensome and unnecessary rules on small business dealers who merely arrange loans would make it harder and more expensive for car buyers to access auto credit.

“The new law balances strong consumer protections and affordable access to auto credit. The Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve and 50 state consumer protection agencies will continue to oversee dealerships' finance operations. The new law maintains existing consumer protection laws, while permitting millions of American families to continue to have multiple financing options to purchase a vehicle.

“The newly-created Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection will have direct federal oversight over all auto loans and those that underwrite, fund or service auto loans, such as banks, credit unions, finance companies and ‘buy here-pay here’ operations at dealerships. As the new law is fully implemented, we urge regulators to closely examine how new rules will impact a family’s ability to finance a vehicle.”