Payday Pundit » Financial Reform Bill – CFPB

Let’s back up a second…

Payday Pundit — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:29:05 +0000

This story came out yesterday covering Holly Petraeus’, who heads the Office of Servicemember Affairs for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, conference call this week with Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD). On the call Petraeus discussed the importance of appointing a director to the CFPB, saying agency enforcement personnel “cannot start their work until we have a director in place. It’s like they are circling their airfield waiting for permission to land.”

As she discussed the need for a director, we were a bit flabbergasted by the headline and its ties to the story? Sensationalism, much? Perhaps.

Just a reminder for those who follow the Pundit, CFSA member companies do not market or provide two-week payday advance loans to the military. This policy is in accordance with federal law that imposed a 36 percent rate cap on loans of 91 days or fewer to military personnel, their spouses, and their dependents.

First 100 days of the CFPB, watch it now!

Payday Pundit — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:28:02 +0000

A House Financial Services subcommittee is taking a look at the first 100 days of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Raj Date, the agency’s acting head, is testifying on the Bureau’s work so far and what’s on the horizon. Watch it live now, by clicking here. Look to the right and click on “CFPB hearing: Live Now”

To download his prepared testimony, click here.

Dear banks, make your disclosures more clear, Date says

Payday Pundit — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:27:33 +0000

Raj Date, the acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), weighed in on the BofA $5 debit card fee controversy for the first time yesterday, according to an LA Times blogpost. Though he did not directly mention Bank of America’s new $5 monthly debit-card fee, Date said that banks often are murky about how much they charge customers and suggested the agency might move to simplify checking account disclosures.

“Different banks charge different fees. Different fees are applied under different terms and conditions. Different banks give different names to the very same fee,” Date said. “Ideally, consumers would have a simple way to evaluate checking account costs.”

Cordray nomination passes Senate Banking Committee

Payday Pundit — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:22:51 +0000

The Senate Banking Committee voted along party lines today to push Richard Cordray’s nomination to lead the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ahead, although Republicans have vowed to block his confirmation, according to the New York Times.

The panel voted 12-to-10 to approve Cordray’s nomination.

“We are simply seeking common-sense changes,” Mr. Shelby, the committee’s ranking minority member, said in a statement after the vote. “Today’s vote by the Senate Banking Committee was premature. No nominee for the director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection should receive consideration until the Democrats are ready to stop playing politics and work with us to make the bureau accountable. It’s their choice.”

Update on Cordray

Payday Pundit — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:43:20 +0000

Looks like Richard Cordray’s CFPB head nomination is gaining some traction. Reuters is reporting that the Senate Banking Committee is expected to vote on Obama’s pick to run the new consumer agency on October 6.

Miss Raj Date yesterday? See his full speech here

Payday Pundit — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:43:29 +0000

The CFPB put up a blogpost today that has a Raj Date recap from yesterday’s meeting in Philadelphia. Click below to review the vid.

Continued quotes from Date

Payday Pundit — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:36:25 +0000

Another quote from CFPB Interim Head Raj Date at yesterday’s event in Philadelphia, most notably the topic on short-term credit:

“We also recognize that there are a variety of products which are targeted at consumers who have a short-term need for cash – including products offered outside of the traditional banking sector,” Date said. “The consumer agency has the capacity to address this range of products in an even-handed way. ”

Date said that the agency plans to examine the issue to ensure the market for short-term credit is “fair, transparent and competitive.”

What’s wrong with too much regulation? Uncertainty

Payday Pundit — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:23:54 +0000

So what’s wrong with too much regulation? Uncertainty in the markets that will eventually trickle down to consumers, according to Warren Stephens. The CEO of Stephens Inc. was interviewed yesterday (you can watch it by viewing the video below) by FOX Business News regarding the impact of regs and rules out of Dodd-Frank and how they could impact access to credit. If you missed the Wall Street Journal story featuring Stephens, click here.

In other news…Warren has officially announced her Senate candidacy

Payday Pundit — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:37:19 +0000

Former CFPB head front-runner and Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren announced her campaign against Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) earlier this week via a video blog. Check out the YouTube video below.

Overdraft protection getting eyed by CFPB

Payday Pundit — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:26:37 +0000

Raj Date says the CFPB is considering whether to impose rules on bank overdraft programs to ensure they’re being applied “in an even-handed way, according to Bloomberg. Date went on to say that U.S. regulators, including the Federal Reserve, have imposed rules on overdraft programs, and that may lead to inconsistent supervision of different kinds of financial institutions.

“We will be monitoring the impact of the recent regulatory and supervisory interventions,” he said during a Philadelphia speech today. “If we find that these interventions are not working as intended, we will adjust. And if we find that additional action is needed, we will act.”