by Jeff Sovern Hensarling calls the bill the Financial Choice Act. Make America Great for Banks Act is closer to the truth. Based on a quick look, the bill would give bank lobbyists power over the CFPB by subjecting it to the appropriations process, increase the likelihood of deadlocks by turning the Bureau into a commission, […]
Category Archives: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
InsideArm.com reports that it "has learned from multiple industry sources" that the CFPB will hold a Small Business Regulatory Fairness Enforcement Act (SBREFA) proceeding the week of August 22 in connection with the Bureau's forthcoming debt collection regulations. The Bureau has to convene the SBREFA proceeding before proposing the new rules. Just to give a sense […]
Martha T. McCluskey of SUNY Buffalo, Thomas Owen McGarity of Texas, Sidney A. Shapiro of Wake Forest, and James Goodwin and Mollie Rosenzweig, both of the Center for Progressive Reform, have written Regulating Forced Arbitration in Consumer Financial Services: Re-Opening the Courthouse Doors to Victimized Consumers. Here's the abstract: Forced arbitration clauses have become almost unavoidable […]
Here (behind paywall). The CFPB is one of the agencies that House Financial Services Chair Jeb Hensarling's bill would ubject to the appropriation process. Excerpt from the article: "There are many things to like about Chairman Hensarling's bill, particularly its tough capital requirements," [former FDCIC head Sheila] Bair said. "However, subjecting the banking agencies to congressional appropriations […]
Here. Excerpt: “[House Financial Services Committee Jeb Hensarling would] gut Dodd-Frank and gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” said Deepak Gupta, a Washington lawyer who previously worked as senior counsel for the watchdog agency. “Jeb Hensarling is a wholly owned subsidiary of the financial services industry.” Too harsh? Not when you consider that, according […]
by Jeff Sovern Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee reported out a bill that would convert the Bureau to a commission, subject it to the congressional appropriations process, and delay (perhaps forever) the adoption of the arbitration and payday lending rules. More information on the Committee's web site.
House Financial Services Chair Jeb Hensarling has proposed a Republican alternative to the Dodd-Frank Act, to be called the Financial Choice Act. The Committee's summary of the portions of the bill that affect the CFPB are as follows: SECTION THREE: Empower Americans to achieve financial independence by fundamentally reforming the CFPB and protecting investors. […]
In the Times's DealBook. Excerpt: Conservative lawyers have been muttering about the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for years, but their best argument is pretty novel. It is a “death by a thousand cuts” separation of powers claim. The idea is that if you count up all the ways that the Consumer Financial […]
by Jeff Sovern According to a report in HousingWire, a CompassPoint report concludes the following: “Our channel checks estimate that shifting the CFPB’s governance from a directorship to a commission would double the bureau’s already elongated rulemaking timeline, cut its enforcement activity by 50% to 75%, and result in a far greater importance being placed on […]
Kevin M. McDonald of VW Credit, Inc. has written Who's Policing the Financial Cop on the Beat? A Call for Judicial Review of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Non-Legislative Rules, 35 Review of Banking and Financial Law, 224 (2015-2016). Here's the abstract: This law review article addresses administrative power in the context of financial services. The Dodd-Frank Act […]

