Bank Trade Group Fears Industry Will Capture CFPB

by Jeff Sovern Camden R. Fine is the president and CEO of the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group for community bankers. The American Banker recently published his op-ed, Don’t let a credit union regulator run the CFPB, opposing the candidacy of National Credit Union Administration Chairman J. Mark McWatters to head the CFPB. Here's […]

Article on Designing Platforms–Like Uber, Airbnb–to Prevent Discrimination

Karen Levy and Solon Barocas of Cornell have written Designing Against Discrimination in Online Markets, 32 Berkeley Technology Law Journal (2018).  Here is the abstract: Platforms that connect users to one another have flourished online in domains as diverse as transportation, employment, dating, and housing. When users interact on these platforms, their behavior may be influenced by preexisting […]

“2017 marked a year of tearing down consumer protections ‘brick by brick'”

From the LA Times: If … you think government has a role to play in ensuring fair play by companies that have shown themselves to be guided almost exclusively by self-interest and a disregard for consumers and public welfare, this year has been nothing short of horrendous. And 2018 doesn't look much better. The Trump […]

Mehrsa Baradaran’s Terrific Podcast for Who Makes Cents?

by Jeff Sovern I only just found out about Mehrsa Baradaran's terrific interview for the Who Makes Cents podcast. If you haven't made time to read her book, How the Other Half Banks, this will give you a brief introduction. For those who are unfamiliar with podcasts, it is easy to download them to a smartphone […]

ABA Announces Paid Consumer Protection Fellowship for Law Students to Work in AG’s Offices Over the Summer

From the announcement: The Janet D. Steiger Fellowship Project provides law students the extraordinary opportunity to work in the consumer protection departments of state and territorial Offices of Attorneys General and other consumer protection agencies throughout the United States. The eight to ten week paid Fellowships were initiated in 2004 by the ABA Section of […]

Another Name, McWatters, NCUA Head, Said to be on Shortlist to Direct CFPB

So says Victoria Finkle in the American Banker. Other names reportedly on the list are House Financial Services Chair Jeb Hensarling, GMU professor Todd Zwyicki, and Keith Norieka, the former acting head of the OCC who threw a monkey wrench into the CFPB's doomed arbitration rule.  McWatters currently helms the National Credit Union Administration, and […]

Economic Inquiry: Call for Papers for Consumer Protection Economics Symposium

We've received the following Call for Papers: Economic Inquiry is excited to announce a Symposium on the Economics of Consumer Protection. The goal of this symposium is to create a unique reference on consumer protection economics topics that would (a) synthesize what is known about the current state of economic analyses of consumer protection law enforcement and policy, […]