“Gorsuch, CFPB and Future of the Administrative State”

That is the name of this article by law prof David Reiss. (Jeff had posted earlier on Reiss's views on this topic.) Here is the abstract: U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch would have an outsized influence on federal consumer protection enforcement if he is confirmed. In particular, if PHH v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 839 F.3d 1 […]

“Wells Fargo fires 4 executives over sham-accounts scandal”

The Washington Post reports today: Wells Fargo announced Tuesday that it had fired four executives as its board of directors nears completion of its investigations into sham accounts set up by employees to allegedly meet sales quotas. The four executives come from the megabank’s community banking division. They will not receive 2016 bonuses and will […]

Times Report on How Auto Lenders Track Borrowers’ Locations

Here.  Excerpt: They can figure out when you leave town and see where you parked your car. They can see how many times you went to the grocery store or the health clinic. Auto loans to Americans with poor credit have been booming, and many finance companies, credit unions and auto dealers are using technologies […]

LA Times’s David Lazarus: Republicans make killing consumer protections a top priority

Here.  Excerpt: I asked [the] office [of Rep. John Ratcliffe, who has proposed to abolish the CFPB] to elaborate [on his claim that the CFPB hurts consumers]. I received a statement from Ratcliffe citing the group’s “qualified mortgage rule,” which he said “has made it harder for young people and retirees on fixed incomes to be […]

Improving safety at railroad crossings

The Department of Transportation says that "[a]lthough rail incidents have declined over the last 10 years, railroad crossing fatalities spiked in 2014. [And in 2016] alone, 232 people died in railroad crossing accidents, and approximately every three hours, a person or vehicle is hit by a train in the United States." So, DOT is doing a […]

Two items on the CFPB: Trump and a new bill

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Donald Trump believes the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau makes the agency “unaccountable” to the American people, according to a White House spokesperson, weighing in for the first time in the debate about the future of the watchdog agency created under the Obama administration. The comment came […]

Zwyicki Chapter: Market-Reinforcing versus Market-Replacing Consumer Finance Regulation

Todd J. Zywicki of George Mason has written Market-Reinforcing versus Market-Replacing Consumer Finance Regulation in Hester Peirce and Benjamin Klutsey, eds., Reframing Financial Regulation: Enhancing Stability and Protecting Consumers, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, pp. 319-341, 2016.  Here's the abstract: The aftermath of the financial crisis has seen the formation of several new banking regulators […]

WSJ: Trump Believes Consumer-Watchdog Agency ‘Unaccountable’: Spokesperson

Here (behind paywall). The article reports on an email from an unidentified Trump spokesperson. Excerpt: “The President believes that the initial decision made by the three judge panel of the DC circuit was correct,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The structure of the CFPB makes it unaccountable to the American people.”  The statement […]