Spoke to our lobbyists.
As I said below, payday lending will be regulated by the CFPB, which will be housed at the Federal Reserve. (We preferred this to an independent Agency. ) Also, the CFPB will just make the rules, enforcement will be done at the state level. There is also a provision that requires the CFPB to meet with small businesses before it begins the regulatory process. We supported this strongly.
Lastly, the Treasury is given direction to create a program to help the unbanked and underbanked get small loans. (It will be very interesting to see how they implement this.)
The lobbyists said the conference report is certain to pass the House and Senate next week.
The summary you posted a few days ago said the new agency would only regulate “large” payday lenders. Could you clarify?
The staff issued summary of the conference report just says “payday lenders.” I will try to clarify that.
What if the state already has a payday lending law in statue, will the federal law over rule the current state law ? Or will the current state law stay in force ?