Remember how House Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling said last month that he wanted to change the CFPB's structure to one headed by a single director reporting to the president? Well, now the WSJ is reporting that Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri, chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer […]
Here. Excerpt: [E]nter Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Corporate Lobbyist Heaven), with his ironically titled “Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act,” which passed through the House Judiciary Committee two weeks ago. Its passage was a remarkable feat of avoiding public notice or debate, with Goodlatte ramming through the legislation in the middle of the night, voting down […]
by Jeff Sovern Here. Here's something they say about transferring the Bureau's authority to the FTC: Transferring all federal consumer protection authority to the Federal Trade Commission, the agency with vast regulatory experience in assessing practices affecting consumer financial services markets, would dramatically improve the federal regulatory framework for consumer financial protection. Maybe Heritage should have paid […]
by Paul Alan Levy The Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogue, a coalition of nearly 100 consumer organizations on both sides of the Atlantic, will be holding its annual meeting in DC from March 19 to March 21, including a public forum on March 21 addressed to "A consumer agenda for transatlantic markets.” The program includes features officials […]
That's the topic of Relinquishment of Inappropriate Off-Label Uses: The Effect of the False Claims Act by lawyer-economist Elissa Philip Gentry. Here is the abstract: Off-label drug prescription—the prescription of drugs for unapproved uses—relies on physicians to distinguish appropriate uses of drugs from inappropriate uses, based on available scientific evidence. In practice, however, information regarding the appropriateness […]
by Brian Wolfman Drew Harwell has penned this powerful article about allegations of widespread sexual harassment against the massive jewelry seller Sterling Jewelers (the corporate conglomerate behind the chain known as Galleria of Jewelry and Kay Jewelers). The article is based in large part on about 250 sworn affidavits from workers at the jewelry chain. The affidavits […]
I've seen little public discussion over what the federal government's workplace watchdog — the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — will look like in a Trump administration. This piece by Tom Musick addresses that question, and not surprisingly it looks like we are in for less regulation of workplace hazards. Musick also notes that "Trump’s limited-regulation stance, […]
Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary posts some questions and answers about the Department of Labor's "fiduciary rule." The rule is intended to ensure that financial professionals helping guide your retirement investments act in your best interest. The rule was finalized in 2016 and becomes applicable on April 10. The rule has been put on hold […]
In the Dallas Morning News. The headline is Texans need to tell Ted Cruz and Jeb Hensarling to keep the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This is an excellent op-ed and could serve as a template for use in drafting op-eds for other states. Excerpt: Thanks to the bureau, Texas-based EZCORP had to stop illegally collecting debts […]
That's the name of this press report by Hiroko Tabuchi and Neal Boudette. An excerpt: At least four automakers knew for years that Takata’s airbags were dangerous and could rupture violently but continued to use those airbags in their vehicles to save on costs, lawyers representing victims of the defect asserted . . . . The Justice […]