Author Archives: Jeff Sovern

My Morning Consult Op-Ed: Financial Choice Act Prioritizes Banks Over Consumers

by Jeff Sovern Here.  Excerpt: Remember how back in 2008, the Bush administration shepherded a $700 billion bank bailout through Congress? Well, the House of Representatives voted last month to rescue banks yet again. And if its bill, the Financial Choice Act, becomes law, ordinary Americans may pay a bigger price than they did for […]

House Vote on CRA Resolution on CFPB Arbitration Rule Could Come Tuesday

by Jeff Sovern The House Rules Committee is meeting today at 5:00 to consider granting a rule for the House to take up H. J. Res. 111, under which the House would vote to block the CFPB arbitration rule from taking effect.  I hear the House could vote on the resolution itself tomorrow.

House Financial Services Committe Minority Staff Issues Report on CFPB

The report is titled THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU IN PERSPECTIVE. Quoting now from the findings listed in the Executive Summary: Before the Consumer Bureau was created, financial regulators prioritized the profits of Wall Street firms at the expense of consumers’ financial well-being on Main Street. Previously, Federal prudential regulators were tasked with dual, and […]

Chamber of Commerce Threatens to Use CRA Vote on CFPB Arbitration in Grading Legislators

by Jeff Sovern The Chamber's letter to House members is here. Here is the relevant text (bolding in original):  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ("Chamber") urges you to support H.J. Res. 111, which would undo a rule left over by the Obama Administration and recently finalized by an out of control Consumer Financial Protection Bureau […]

Arbitration Expert & Professor Jean Sternlight: Consumer bureau’s new rule will better protect consumers from the abusive financial companies

Here.  Excerpt: Focusing, for example, on cases involving unlawful check bouncing charges, the bureau [study] found that class actions brought on this issue alone allowed millions of financial consumers to recover nearly $1 billion of damages as well as important non-monetary relief, all of which deters future legal violations. By contrast, the bureau learned that […]

Law360 Interview with Acting Head of FTC’s Consumer Protection Bureau Thomas Pahl

Here. Excerpt: In the area of national advertising, Pahl listed three priorities that indicate a return to a more traditional, conservative approach to law enforcement. First, he said the agency will focus on “fraud” and “quasi-fraud,” similar to the agency’s historic approach to deceptive weight loss and dietary supplement claims. A second priority is health […]

New York Law’s Center for Justice & Democracy: 9 Examples of Class Actions that Helped Consumers

The report is titled How Consumer Financial Class Actions Help and Protect Americans. Here is an excerpt from the press release: This report illustrates how anytime, anywhere, an unscrupulous bank or lender could steal money from you, your family, or your small business. … If, say, a bank opens a fraudulent bank account in your […]

American Banker: GOP efforts to repeal CFPB arbitration rule off to rocky start

by Jeff Sovern Here. The article points out that one Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee, John Kennedy of Louisiana, did not agree to cosponsor the Senate CRA resolution to rescind the CFPB rule (he was said to be reviewing the resolution); that Senator McCain's unfortunate health issues may prevent him from voting on […]

Consumerist: Lawmakers Who Want To Hand ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ Card To Banks Made Millions From Financial Sector Last Year

Here.  Excerpt: [T]he two main sponsors — Rep. Jeb Hensarling (TX) and Sen. Mike Crapo (ID) — received a total of $6 million in campaign contributions from the financial sector in 2016, with $1.9 million going to Hensarling’s campaign and $4.1 million going to Crapo. * * * Sen. Pat Toomey (PA) received a total […]