I don't post every article about the Consumer Financial Protection bureau rule barring financial services companies from using forced arbitration provisions to impose class-action bans on consumers. But I wanted to pass along this one by CFPB director Richard Cordray responding very directly to a couple of the rule's opponents.
That's a topic of this article by C. Ryan Barber (possibly behind a paywall). That the CFPB enforcement chief is quitting didn't itself strike me as critical news, but the article provided a nice overview of the main issues facing the agency.
Petra Persson of Stanford University; Research Institute of Industrial Economics has written Attention Manipulation and Information Overload. Here is the abstract: Limits on consumer attention give firms incentives to manipulate prospective buyers' allocation of attention. This paper models such attention manipulation and shows that it limits the ability of disclosure regulation to improve consumer welfare. Competitive […]
by Jeff Sovern The WSJ article is here. Excerpt: Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina introduced a bill to require the three major credit firms—Equifax, Experian PLC and TransUnion—to submit to regular federal cybersecurity reviews for the first time. All three companies also would have to phase out their use of Social Security numbers to verify consumers’ […]
by Jeff Sovern The Wall Street Journal, in a story headlined Regulator Fight Flares Anew Over Arbitration Rule As GOP Gears Up To Vote, reports on the CFPB response to the Norieka op-ed I wrote about earlier: The CFPB countered Mr. Noreika’s attack by publishing a new report on the rule’s effect on consumers, arguing there […]
by Jeff Sovern Acting Comptroller of the Currency and former bank lawyer Keith Norieka has an op-ed in The Hill, Senate should vacate the harmful consumer banking arbitration rule, that is seriously flawed. I'm going to write about two of those flaws here. First, Norieka concludes by writing: Instead of mandating only one way to resolve […]
Today, my colleagues at U.S. PIRG and the Frontier Group released a new report, "Older Consumers in the Financial Marketplace." From the report's executive summary: Older consumers are at risk of harm from predatory financial behavior. An analysis of more than 72,000 financial complaints submitted by older consumers (those 62 years of age and older) […]
On October 5, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued its final rule on payday, vehicle title, and certain high-cost installment loans. The National Consumer Law Center prepared this article describing the rule's coverage, two main provisions, and effective date. The article also lists ways under current law to challenge abusive payday, auto title, and installment […]
The Federal Trade Commission announced to day that it is mailing 227,000 refund checks totaling more than $9.8 million to people who bought “fat burning” and “weight loss” products and other dietary supplements, DVDs, or skin creams, including Pure Green Coffee Bean Plus and RKG Extreme, from Health Formulas LLC and related companies. The average […]
Allen St. John at Consumer Reports has written 6 Easy Opt-Outs to Protect Your Privacy. This article reviews opt-outs such as the national do-not-call registry and a few industry-specific opt-outs to prevent the spread of personal information (for instance, one that applies to major banks and another that will get you off lists to receive "pre-approved" credit […]