Hearing today
October 29, 2009 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (1)The House Energy and Commerce Committee is holding a hearing today to give the Federal Trade Commission expanded powers to regulate financial products. From the article:
The Federal Trade Commission would get new powers to oversee and punish companies that run afoul of its rules as part of a financial-services oversight bill currently before Congress, a further step in the Obama administration’s beefing up of the U.S. regulatory machinery.
The provision, which has reached this point virtually unnoticed by all but a few lobbyists and interest groups, is scheduled to be debated in the House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday.
The legislation, if approved, would strengthen the FTC by allowing the agency to craft regulations more quickly and enhance its ability to impose civil penalties on companies. It would also allow the agency to take action against companies “aiding and abetting” unfair or deceptive business practices, not just the original perpetrator, according to people familiar with the legislation.
Comments»
What is an “unfair” business practice? That is a subjective, not objective, standard which would essentially give the regulators the power to punish any company for any reason.
Welcome to Obamatarianism.