Kevin Brasler of Washington Consumer Checkbook has an interesting column in last week’s Washington Post detailing the findings of a study of consistently deceptive advertising of ”big ticket items” that are supposedly on sale, even though the supposed regular price was never applicable during the ten month period of the study. The complete study is […]
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The result today in Cyan v. Beaver County Employees Retirement Fund is interesting, particularly given the legislative trend to provide forum choice to defendants in aggregate litigation (which usually means federal court, because big companies generally prefer federal court). The issues and the Supreme Court's unanimous holding are crisply stated in the first paragraph of Justice Kagan's […]
by Jeff Sovern Here in the LA Times. Excerpt: [T]he current occupant of the Oval Office, President Trump, a wealthy businessman, is aggressively pursuing policies that undermine each of Kennedy's declared rights. * * * Kennedy proposed four basic consumer rights: The right to safety: "To be protected against the marketing of goods which are hazardous […]
This interesting article by Paul Demko explains that despite Trump's and the republicans' legislative and regulatory efforts to make the Affordable Care Act economically non-viable, 2017 was the best year yet financially for ACA insurers.
In an opinion issued this morning, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned key provisions of a Federal Communiciations Commission ruling addressing the scope of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's prohibition on the use of automated dialing devices to make unconsented-to calls to cell phones. In what may prove the most […]
A bipartisan group of House members on Wednesday released a bill that would replace the director of the controversial Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a five-person commission. The bill would also rename the CFPB the Financial Product Safety Commission. The Hill has the story.
Here. Excerpt: President Donald Trump and other supporters of the major banking bill that cleared the Senate on Wednesday say they want to rescue the nation’s lenders from a crush of regulations. But far from being crushed, the industry looks more like it's booming. Banks have hauled in record profits for the last three years […]
by Jeff Sovern Politico's Morning Money newsletter reports: BANKERS NOT AS WORRIED BY REGS — At the Consumer Bankers Assoc. annual conference, CBA Live, attendees were asked about their top worries. The regulatory environment was tops from 2012-2016. On Monday it barely cracked four percent. Which of course raises a question about why Congress is working on […]
"Buried within Senate legislation to roll back restraints on banks is a provision that would exempt an estimated 85 percent of US banks and credit unions from public reporting requirements, raising fears that discriminatory practices by lenders could go undetected. The data that would be exempt from reporting include the financial information of borrowers and loan […]
by Jeff Sovern Kevin Wack in The American Banker has a report headlined Wells was tipped off to government probe by OCC, watchdog says. And yet, Mick Mulvaney wants the CFPB to take a backseat to the OCC when it comes to supervision.