Category Archives: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Dallas Morning News: Agency That Protects Consumers from Financial Scamers in Trouble Under Trump

by Jeff Sovern Here. Excerpt: I talked to [Jim] Purcell [of State National Bank in Big Spring] this week. He says the bureau spreads its tentacles too far. He complains that there's no appeal for the bureau's decisions, that it's too independent of Congress and the president (by design, and for obvious reasons, I might […]

Will Congress Silence Complaining Consumers?

by Jeff Sovern On Tuesday, as widely reported, the Senate silenced Senator Elizabeth Warren.  Now House Financial Services Chair Jeb Hensarling wants to silence complaining consumers by eliminating the ability of Senator Warren's creation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to operate a consumer complaint database. The Dodd-Frank Act, in 12 U.S.C. § 5511, provides that: […]

Hensarling Said to Abandon Commission Model for CFPB in Favor of Director Reporting to the President

The WSJ has a report here (behind paywall).  In the next version of the Financial Choice Act, House Financial Services Chair Jeb Hensarling is also reported to be considering eliminating the Bureau's supervisory authority, power to regulate payday lending, consumer complaint database and its research and consumer education functions.  The goal appears to be to […]

Some Problems with the Trump Administration’s Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System

by Jeff Sovern Last Friday, President Trump announced an Executive Order on Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System.  Here is the list: (a) empower Americans to make independent financial decisions and informed choices in the marketplace, save for retirement, and build individual wealth; (b) prevent taxpayer-funded bailouts; (c) foster economic growth and […]

Bloomberg Report Indicates Congressional Republicans Hitting Roadblocks in Dodd-Frank Overhaul

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 […]

CNBC: Despite critics’ claims, Dodd-Frank hasn’t slowed lending to business or consumers

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 […]

NCLC’s Lauren Sanders in USA Today: Protect our troops, not Wall Street

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 […]

Politico: Trump Admin Divided Over Firing Cordray, Has Spoken to Todd Zywicki About the Job

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 […]

WSJ: Financial Choice Act 2.0 Could be Introduced This Week

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 […]