Sen. Ted Kaufman from Delaware, who was appointed to fill V.P. Biden’s seat, will be taking over Elizabeth Warren’s old job as head of the TARP oversight panel. 

From the story: 

Des Moines thinks keep lenders a half mile apart is the answer to a problem that doesn’t exist.   From the story: 

Des Moines pawnshops and payday lenders would be prohibited in two business districts and subject to a half-mile separation requirement under new regulations put before the City Council this week.

Restrictions proposed by city staff and Plan and Zoning Commission members include barring pawn and payday loan operations in neighborhood retail and neighborhood pedestrian commercial districts. The businesses would be allowed in eight other business and industrial districts throughout Des Moines.

A blistering op-ed about Elizabeth Warren’s use of data today: 

The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is one of the most powerful bureaucratic positions ever created in the American political system. It can regulate or ban almost every consumer credit product in the country, yet it is beyond Congress’s power of the purse because its budget is guaranteed as a percentage of the Fed’s annual revenues. Under normal circumstances, the Senate would have the opportunity to ask Ms. Warren to explain the way in which she has sometimes interpreted data in her research before entrusting her with control of the agency.

By doing an end-run around the confirmation process, the Obama administration has eliminated our opportunity to find out. And by installing the head of the agency as an assistant to the president inside the White House, it has insulated her from meaningful congressional oversight.

Elizabeth Warren continues her charm offensive.  From the story: 

“Instead of seeing banks as their friends, as I did when I put my babysitting money in a savings account at Penn Square National Bank so my brothers didn’t borrow it out of my sock drawer, too many Americans see dealing with banks like handling snakes – do it long enough and you’ll get bit,” she said in a speech Wednesday to the Financial Services Roundtable in Washington.

Elizabeth Warren, the newly appointed adviser to help get the Consumer Financial Protection bureau up and running, says consolidation of financial regulation will be beneficial to both banks and their customers.

From the story: 

The debate over whether to cap interest rates for payday loans continued in Missoula Tuesday night. The League of Women Voters held a forum at the Missoula Public Library for both sides to talk about the controversial ballot initiative

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“In today’s economy, when banks and other financial institutions are charging up to $35 to bounce a $5 check, it makes the $15 we charge on a $100 loan look pretty small,” said Bernard Harrington, an industry spokesperson who owns several payday loan stores.

Whether I-164 actually goes before voters in November will be decided in the courtroom. Opponents sued the state in an attempt to remove the measure from the ballot. They claim supporters used deceptive practices to gather signatures for the initiative.

A payday lending store closes in Washington State: 

Last year, the Washington state legislature passed serious new restrictions on payday loans: small, high-interest loans that are essentially advances on your paycheck. But did Olympia go too far?

“I’ve been doing this since 1989,” said Kevin McCarthy, owner of the local Check Masters chain, which specializes in payday loans, check cashing, and other financial services. “We knew it wouldn’t be good. I don’t think any of us realized just how catastrophic it would be.”

The new rules, which limit customers to 8 loans per year at any Washington institution and puts a $700 cap on each loan, have cost McCarthy his business. Revenue was down 60 percent in the first half of 2010, and 12 of his 22 stores have already closed. The rest will shut down within months, and his 150 employees will be looking for work.

How is this good for consumers?

Firelake.com pooh poohs the “conflict of interest” issue raised against Warren in the post below.

The American Banker focuses on an interesting aspect of the BCFP: 

The CFPB will have to acquire real-world data on a variety of financial products and their impact. Examining credit cards alone will need data elements ranging from credit card products, terms, fees, outstanding debt, average percentage of debt per household, demographics of households and so on. Mortgages will need similar information and include metrics on performance, payment schedules, delinquency rates and foreclosures.

Another large data segment comprises the list of “covered persons.” The Act broadly defines these entities as those who engage in “financial activities.” In practice, this means not just banks and mortgage companies, but also financial advisors, debt collection agencies, real estate appraisal services and so on. The bureau needs to manage master data elements, such as covered entities and products, to fully understand relationships, hierarchies and exposures. In addition, the research department in the CFPB could have potentially more wide-ranging data acquisition needs.

In an unregulated environment.  From the story: