by Jeff Sovern The FTC, New Jersey AG's Office, and Vizio have agreed to a court order under which Vizio will pay 2.2 million to settle charges that Vizio recorded and sold information about the viewing practices of consumers watching Vizio TVs without obtaining consumers' consent and without their knowledge. You can read Leslie Fair's […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
Here. Excerpt: President Donald Trump’s pledge to dismantle the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul is colliding with the same reality as his pledge to gut Obamacare: The Republican majority in Congress can’t decide how to make it happen and Democrats are vowing to fight. * * * On the House side, there’s no agreement on a plan to […]
Here. Excerpt: "We expect to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank," [President Trump] told a group of bankers and other corporate executives [on Friday, when signing an Executive Order pertaining to Dodd-Frank], "because, frankly, I have so many people, friends of mine that have nice businesses that can't borrow money. They just can't get […]
Here. Excerpt (but the whole piece is worth reading): Young servicemembers are often easy targets for financial firms marketing loans with ultra-high interest rates. Tens of thousands of servicemembers have benefited from the CFPB’s actions. The agency worked with state attorneys general to secure debt relief for 17,000 servicemembers tricked into taking out high-cost loans for computers, video […]
Here. Excerpts: “There has been talk of getting rid of Cordray, but I think they're trying to figure out what they can do and what [Trump] will actually go along with,” said a person close to the administration. Lawyers who say they’re providing guidance to the White House declined to comment for the record or […]
The petition for review, filed in the DC Circuit, is here. Press release here. Excerpt from the press release: “We’re optimistic that the Court will rein in the FTC’s dangerous and irresponsible abuse of its authority. Instead of protecting consumers, the FTC is protecting unscrupulous auto dealers who engage in false and deceptive advertising about […]
Here (behind paywall). House Financial Services Committee Chair's Financial Choice Act, passed last fall by the committee, is expected to be introduced again in a revised version as soon as this week. While Senate Democrats can usually block legislation by using the filibuster, as long as they hold together, the WSJ reports that some aspects of […]
Here (behind paywall). Net neutrality is in danger.
by Jeff Sovern As well-covered on this blog and elsewhere, Wells Fargo employees opened millions of sham accounts for customers, for which they have paid fines and suffered reputational damage. During the House Financial Services Committee September hearing on the Wells fiasco, some Republican committee members berated Wells Fargo's then-CEO, John Stumpf, for giving ammunition to […]