Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

Werner & Peterson Op-ed: Wells Fargo case shows how fine print can erode freedom

Here.  Excerpt: On June 7, a Utah judge will decide whether more than 50 consumers defrauded by banking giant Wells Fargo in its fake account scandal will be forced to pursue claims one by one in a secret arbitration system. Even as the bank’s PR machine loudly trumpets a focus on restoring consumer trust, Wells […]

House Expected to Vote on Financial Choice Act, Bill to Cripple CFPB, by Friday

The House Rules Committee voted to permit House consideration last night. The Hill story is here.  Excerpt: The House Rules Committee on Tuesday night cleared for a vote on the House floor a Republican effort to strip much of the Dodd-Frank Act. The powerful panel — the last stop for every bill considered by the […]

Trump to Nominate Banker Joseph Otting to head OCC

The OCC regulates national banks and has some power over consumer protection issues. The Financial Times has the story here. Excerpt:  If confirmed by the Senate, Mr Otting is likely to be “a reliable ally” for Mr Mnuchin and “a steady proponent for bank deregulation”, said Isaac Boltansky, analyst at Compass Point in Washington.

Jeanette Quick: Washington’s quiet revolution to destroy consumer protection

Here, in The Hill.  Quick served as senior counsel to the Senate Banking Committee and senior attorney for OCC.  Excerpt: Trump is well on his way to effecting change in financial regulation through his appointments, and Congress appears poised to stall new financial regulation through changes to the rulemaking process, most significantly through the Regulatory Accountability […]

Freeman Article: Racism in the Credit Card Industry

Andrea Freeman of Hawai'i has written Racism in the Credit Card Industry, 95 North Carolina Law Review 1071 (2017).  Here's the abstract: In a social and financial climate characterized by deep racial and socioeconomic divide, racism against credit card applicants and consumers is a core piece of the systemic inequality that perpetuates dramatic disparities in wealth, […]

Times Article Reports How Mylan Still Charges $609 for EpiPen With $1 of Medicine

The headline is Outcry Over EpiPen Prices Hasn’t Made Them Lower.  Excerpt: By August, the company, which sells thousands of drugs and says it fills one in every 13 American prescriptions, was making mea culpas and renewing its promise to “do what’s right, not what’s easy,” as the company’s mission statement goes. * * * […]

Duranske Article on Regulation Health and Wellness Claims

Sarah Duranske of Stanford has written This Article Makes You Smarter (Or, Regulating Health and Wellness Claims), Forthcoming in the American Journal of Law and Medicine. Here is the abstract: Information has power – to inspire, to transform, and to harm. Recent technological advancements have enabled the creation of products that offer consumers direct access […]

Times: No, Your Phone Didn’t Ring. So Why Voice Mail From a Telemarketer?

Here. Excerpt: [C]alls are quietly deposited through a back door, directly into a voice mail box — to the surprise and (presumably) irritation of the recipient, who cannot do anything to block them. Regulators are considering whether to ban these messages. They have been hearing from ringless voice mail providers and pro-business groups, which argue […]

Bair Article: Dynamic Rationality

Stephanie Plamondon Bair of Brigham Young has written Dynamic Rationality, Forthcoming in the Ohio State Law Journal.  Here is the abstract: In 1998, Christine Jolls, Cass Sunstein, and Richard Thaler published A Behavioral Approach to Law and Economics, one of the most important pieces of scholarship in decades. Their Article famously proposes a departure from […]