Here (behind paywall). House Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling says the Financial Choice Act will be reintroduced in the "weeks to come" (which is already later than some earlier statements had it); the Senate Banking Committee still has presidential nominations to consider; both Houses face deadlines on some matters, such as the expiration of […]
Author Archives: Jeff Sovern
Here. Excerpt: In the wake of the recent election, the mind-boggling possibility of a return to the pre-crisis world of 2008 is now a real threat. That is precisely what would happen if Congress and the incoming Administration forget why the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was enacted and what the Consumer […]
The WSJ recently published Companies Seek to Sway Trump Administration on FTC Choice (behind pay wall) about who the next FTC chair will be. Google's rivals want Utah AG Sean Reyes, while acting chair Maureen Ohlhausen remains a possibility. Commissioner Ohlhausen is seen as more accommodating to Google because of an earlier antitrust decision in which she […]
Here (behind paywall). Excerpt: "* * * Director Cordray has been reluctant to issue a final arbitration rule, is because I think he realizes that there is a very high likelihood of it being overridden," said Alan Kaplinsky, a partner at the law firm Ballard Spahr. * * * It's also not a guarantee that […]
by Jeff Sovern At Real Clear Politics, by George Masonites Hester Pierce and Vera Soliman. The arguments (with my editorializing on some points) are that the Bureau's payday lending rule would put some such lenders out of business (would those be the lenders that ensnare consumers in a never-ending debt trap?), that the Bureau collects […]
by Jeff Sovern In the Dallas Morning News. Here are some more quotes from the article: Hensarling bemoaned that the bureau gets to be a "cop on a beat, a judge and its own Congress." * * * He said the bureau has led to higher bank fees, fewer banking options and more difficulty in […]
Here. Excerpt: They can figure out when you leave town and see where you parked your car. They can see how many times you went to the grocery store or the health clinic. Auto loans to Americans with poor credit have been booming, and many finance companies, credit unions and auto dealers are using technologies […]
Here. Excerpt: I asked [the] office [of Rep. John Ratcliffe, who has proposed to abolish the CFPB] to elaborate [on his claim that the CFPB hurts consumers]. I received a statement from Ratcliffe citing the group’s “qualified mortgage rule,” which he said “has made it harder for young people and retirees on fixed incomes to be […]
Here. I won't post an excerpt because the report is too full of information to single some items out. If you care about class actions, I suggest reading the whole piece.