Senate Banking Committee May Vote on Kraninger Next Week

So Bloomberg reports (no link available). Kraninger has until July 31 to answer any questions senators submitted after the hearing, so if any such questions were submitted, and she takes the full time allotted, that won't leave much time to digest her answers.  The Senate is expected to take a recess during the week of […]

Dep’t of Ed / Betsy DeVos propose to abandon student protections through a new Borrower Defense Rule

The Department of Education today proposed a new Borrower Defense Rule that would abandon important protections designed to stop for-profit colleges from forcing students to give up their right to take schools to court for wrongdoing by forcing them to arbitrate any claims. Forced arbitration provisions, together with bans on the right of students to […]

White House Adviser Says Mulvaney’s Mission is to Blow Up CFPB

by Jeff Sovern So reports Nancy Cook, in Politico. The adviser is not identified. Excerpt: Mulvaney also has received accolades for his slow dismantling of the former CFPB, a brainchild of Elizabeth Warren’s that was created by Democrats in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and has long been a favorite target for Republicans. […]

Weinberg article on the history of credit reports

Jonathan Weinberg of Wayne State has written 'Know Everything that Can Be Known About Everybody': The Birth of the Credit Report, Villanova Law Review, Forthcoming. Here is the abstract: A remarkable amount of our personal information is in the hands of corporations such as the Experian credit bureau; strangers to us, they make their money by collecting our […]

What Are Kraninger’s Promises to be Accountable and Transparent Worth?

by Jeff Sovern In her written testimony, and again in her oral testimony, Kathy Kraninger, the president's nominee to head the CFPB, promised to be transparent and accountable.  But her testimony yesterday, in which she said giving her personal opinion was not appropriate, was anything but.  Don't take my word for it; here's how one […]

Kraninger’s Frustrating Confirmation Hearing

by Jeff Sovern For years, Republicans have complained that they felt frustrated by the CFPB.  During her confirmation hearing today, Kraninger got revenge on their behalf on Democrats by refusing to answer their questions.  Here is an excerpt from Renae Merle's story in WaPo: Kathy Kraninger, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection […]

American Banker: 3 questions to make or break Kraninger’s CFPB nomination

Here, by Victoria Finkle (free content). Excerpt: Perhaps the biggest hurdle Kraninger will encounter is demonstrating a familiarity with the consumer protection laws she would be tasked with overseeing, given her lack of industry experience. Some in banking continue to speculate whether the White House tapped her for the post as a serious bid — […]

NFL concussion class-action settlement update

The class counsel in the NFL football class-action concussion settlement has submitted a status report (with accompanying expert analysis) indicating that, so far, the settlement is providing more benefits to more ex-NFL players (and their families) than had been anticipated when the settlement was approved by the federal courts. Among other data reported, in the […]

Questions for Kraninger at the Confirmation Hearing Thursday

by Jeff Sovern Allied Progress has posted a list of ten questions for Kathy Kraninger at her confirmation hearing Thursday. The list includes many excellent questions, but I would love to see her also asked specific questions about consumer law because I am curious to see how much she knows about the laws she will interpret […]

Op-ed: “Why do Republicans hate consumers?”

Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell ponders the Trump Administration's choice of someone with "zero experience in the complicated world of financial regulation or consumer protection" to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Considering consumer protection more broadly, she writes: It’s bizarre. Whenever they get the chance, Republican officials seem intent on bleeding consumers dry. Or […]