Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

Trump Administration Seems Likely to Weaken CRA Rules

by Jeff Sovern The WSJ has an interesting story out, Trump Administration Seeks to Change Rules on Bank Lending to the Poor, that reports: Community groups say the law should be expanded in order to bring opportunity to more low-income areas, while banks say they would do a better job of helping these people if the […]

Consumer Advocates Charge Mulvaney’s Freeze on Data Collection is a Ploy to Cripple the CFPB

by jeff Sovern The American Banker has the story, in a report headlined Is CFPB’s data freeze about security or a political ploy? The article quotes Minnesota's Prentiss Cox, as saying "This is a very thinly veiled attempt to shut down fraud enforcement, which is consistent with the not-even-veiled priority agenda item of the congressional Republicans to eviscerate […]

Interim Bank Regulator Norieka: A Swamp Case Study

by Jeff Sovern Last May, President Trump appointed bank lawyer Keith Norieka as interim head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Now that the full-time Comptroller has taken office, Norieka is returning to his firm "where he’ll consult large domestic and international banks on precisely the issues handled by the agency he […]

Report that Mulvaney CFPB Stafffer Lobbied Against CFPB Discrimination Protections Before Joining CFPB

The report comes from Allied Progress. Excerpt: Just before the holiday break, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) “Acting Director” Mick Mulvaney announced that several of his senior staff from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) would be taking on leadership roles at the CFPB. That list included his chief of staff Emma Doyle. What […]

More CFPB News to be Concerned About: Hensarling Aides Move to CFPB

by Jeff Sovern The new chief of staff for the CFPB will be Kirsten Sutton Mork, a longtime aide for House Financial Services Chair Jeb Hensarling, according to Mr. Hensarling. Chief of staff is the position formerly held by Leandra English, who is locked in a battle with Mulvaney to be acting director of the Bureau.  […]

Study Examines Impact of Mortgage Modification Programs

Diana Farrell and Kanav Bhagat, both of JP Morgan Chase, Peter Ganong at the Harris Public Policy School of the University of Chicago, and Pascal Noel of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business have written Mortgage Modifications after the Great Recession: New Evidence and Implications for Policy. Here's the abstract: In the aftermath of […]

Bank Trade Group Fears Industry Will Capture CFPB

by Jeff Sovern Camden R. Fine is the president and CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group for community bankers. The American Banker recently published his op-ed, Don’t let a credit union regulator run the CFPB, opposing the candidacy of National Credit Union Administration Chairman J. Mark McWatters to head the CFPB. Here's […]

Article on Designing Platforms–Like Uber, Airbnb–to Prevent Discrimination

Karen Levy and Solon Barocas of Cornell have written Designing Against Discrimination in Online Markets, 32 Berkeley Technology Law Journal (2018).  Here is the abstract: Platforms that connect users to one another have flourished online in domains as diverse as transportation, employment, dating, and housing. When users interact on these platforms, their behavior may be influenced by preexisting […]