It’s amazing how a recession focuses the attention of the media on bank fees.  From the story: 

Overdraft fees could be the next banking practice to draw high-profile scorn. The Federal Reserve is about to implement new rules about their disclosure, and some lawmakers would like to make the banks at least warn you before they charge them. The recession is also giving a boost to the consumer-rights camp, as people who might not have cared too much about bank fees a couple of years ago are now counting every penny.

Geithner and Bernake disagree on the need to creat a Consumer Finance Protection Agency.  From the story: 

The White House wants to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to oversee a vast range of financial products, stripping the Federal Reserve and other banking regulators of their current authority for policing them.

“I think it’s very hard to look at that system and say that it did anything close to an adequate job of what it was designed to do,” Geithner told the House Financial Services Committee. He cited the collapse of the housing and credit markets because of high-risk subprime mortgages made to borrowers who didn’t understand and couldn’t afford them.

Bernanke, appearing before the same committee after Geithner, argued that the Fed should retain its consumer protection powers regarding consumer products.

“Without extensively entering the debate,” Bernanke said, Congress should be aware of “some of the benefits that would be lost through this change,” including the Fed’s consolidated resources for also ensuring the safety and soundness of banks.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner mentioned payday lending during testimony on the Administration’s reform proposals:

Already, many Wall Street bankers are trying to soften some of the proposals including one for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, something that Geithner urged lawmakers to back.

He noted that many non-banks like mortgage brokers and independent mortgage companies, consumer credit companies and payday loan operations are currently able to operate with no federal supervision whatever.

He said that having one agency to look after consumer interests in their dealings with not only banks but also non-bank financial firms would help to block banks from trying to seek out the weakest regulator and delaying compliance with rules.

It will all be in the details.

Check ‘n Go’s blogger weighs in.

Looks like there was a loophole in the recently passed credit card bill.  From the story:

Federal reforms that were touted as a way to stop banks from drastically raising credit card interest rates contain a huge loophole, according to an industry watchdog.

That loophole is allowing JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America and other credit cards providers to raise interest rates on variable-rate cards, said Bill Hardekopf, CEO of LowCards.com, an Alabama-based industry watchdog.

The tone of this Consumerist.com column oozes elitism.

This story in USA Today about the troubles of Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd caught our eye for this weird statement: 

“If you’re a wealthy special interest donor — like Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide Mortgage, or the guys at AIG, or even a pawn shop owner — you can rest easy knowing that you have a powerful Senator like Chris Dodd in your back pocket,” the campaign writes on its website.

Pawn shops have the clout of banks and insurance companies?  Oh, please.

From the New York Times:

It is not clear there are enough votes to create a consumer protection agency to review financial products.

That explains why Chairman Barney Frank move the markup from the first week in August to September.

This MIT economist makes a logical, but completely irrational statement.

Nobody wants the government running their business. It’s called red tape.

While the markup of the Gutierrez bill is postoned, the House Financial Services Committee is taking testimony from regulators tomorrow on the Obama Administration’s various regulatory proposals.