The CFPB has repeatedly emphasized the need for greater disclosure in financial products. Could the next product to undergo this simplification process be checking accounts? A recent Pew study shows that consumers would be happy to see clearer forms when signing up for a checking account. Here’s what the Pew researchers are saying about the need for better disclosure:

“You can’t comparison-shop based on minimum balance needed, monthly fees and policies, because you can’t figure out what they are,” says Susan Weinstock, director of the Safe Checking in the Electronic Age project for Pew Charitable Trusts. She adds that Pew has proposed something similar to the “Schumer Box” that credit card companies are required to include in their marketing materials, which spells out major terms and conditions. Since the layout of the box and included information is the same from issuer to issuer, consumers can get a good comparative overview of what different cards offer and require.

 

The Senate Banking Committee is planning on holding a hearing next week to start the confirmation process on Richard Cordray, President Obama’s pick to run the CFPB.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

The Cordray bid… is likely to face a contentious battle in the Senate, where Republicans have vowed to block the nomination unless the White House agrees to revamp the bureau’s structure. Republicans want the bureau to be run by a commission instead of a single director, among other things. They fear that the bureau has broad powers over the financial industry without much congressional scrutiny and oversight.

CPFB officials have announced that their enforcement system will be “based largely on the existing, stable model” used by the Federal Trade Commission. While this sheds some light on the framework of the CFPB’s new system, it does not go into detail about the role that supervision will play in the agency’s enforcement plans. The only other indication of how the agency will handle this process comes from the CFPB’s website:

Peggy Twohig, the bureau’s assistant director for non-bank supervision, and Steve Antonakes, the assistant director for large-bank supervision, hinted in a July 22 blog post that the agency may rely heavily on supervision.

“Generally as a last resort, examiners will coordinate and work closely with CFPB’s enforcement staff to implement appropriate enforcement actions to address violations of law that harm consumers,” Twohig and Antonakes wrote.

After getting overlooked as the CFPB director nominee, Elizabeth Warren is heading back to Cambridge.

Warren, who served both as a White House adviser and adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the CPFB, will return to her teaching job at Harvard, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. Treasury also confirmed that Raj Date will replace her as an adviser to Geithner, effective August 1.

“Professor Warren has done an extraordinary job standing up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” said Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in a statement. “Her efforts to simplify mortgage and credit card disclosures, protect military families from abusive and deceptive financial practices, and bring aboard top talent like Richard Cordray and Raj Date have built a strong foundation for the Bureau’s future success.”

Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski sharply disagreed on Monday’s “Morning Joe” about President Obama’s handling of the Elizabeth Warren nomination.

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Peggy Twohig wrote a blogpost today touting the launch of the CFPB, but more importantly the outreach that Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury Elizabeth Warren and Assistant Director for Bank Supervision Steve Antonakes sent out. The letters, signed by both Warren and Antonakes, were sent to depository institutions that are under the CFPB’s supervision with over $10 billion in assets and their depository affiliates.

“Our goal is to have an open and candid dialogue and a constructive relationship in which we can work together to carry out our respective responsibilities, correct any problems that arise, and help ensure that consumers have access to and can benefit from fair, transparent, and competitive markets for consumer financial products and services. We hope that you will keep the CFPB informed in a timely manner about developments and issues at your organization that relate to consumer financial protection matters,” the letter read.

Read the new report from the Center for Responsible Lending on payday loans provided by big banks and how they compare to more traditional storefront loans.

The CFPB hasn’t even been up and running for a full 24 hours and the House of Representatives is already considering bills that could mean big changes for the agency.

The House on Thursday afternoon rejected an attempt by House Democrats to abandon legislation they say would gut last year’s Wall Street reform bill.

Democrats forced a vote on whether the bill, H.R. 1315, should even be considered on the House floor today by arguing that the Republican bill weakens the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). But as expected, the House voted in favor of continuing on with the bill by a 227-173 vote…

…The bill would turn the leadership of the bureau into a five-person commission rather than a single person, and would also make it easier for CFPB financial regulations to be overturned by an oversight body, the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

According to the Nation, when asked on Monday whether she would consider making a run for the seat now occupied by Senator Scott Brown, Warren replied:

“I’ve been working 14 hours a day on trying to stand this…agency up, really for more than a year now…. It’s time for a little vacation for me. When I go home, I’ll do more thinking then. But I need to do that thinking not from Washington.”