Clarification
October 29, 2009 | federal legislation, industry, regulation | Comments (0)The House Energy and Commerce meeting today is a “markup” not a “hearing.” The Committee has jurisdiction over the Federal Trade Commission provisions of the CFPA. Here is the Committee announcement:
The Energy and Commerce Committee will meet on Thursday, October 29, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building. The committee will consider H.R. 3126, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act of 2009.
The main street credit crunch
October 29, 2009 | industry, personal finance | Comments (0)From the story:
Are we clear? The Obama administration has run the federal deficit up to 12% of GDP, handing out money to favored projects. The banks shift their balance sheet away from risky small business to riskless Treasuries. And the grassroots economy gets crushed.
It’s all going to get worse. The personal savings rate is back up from 0% to around 3%, but it needs to go back to 10% and stay there indefinitely, which means that consumer spending has to drop by 7% or more, more or less permanently.
Well, that’s a downer.
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.
Ohio acton?
October 29, 2009 | Ohio, industry | Comments (2)This is on the agenda of the Ohio legislature:
HB 325 PAYDAY LENDING (Yates) — To repeal the Short-Term Loan Act and to prohibit payday lending by entities other than traditional financial institutions.
That’s what happens
October 28, 2009 | Arkansas, alternatives, industry | Comments (0)When payday lending stores close, consumers go to the Internet to look for short-term loans.
Say what?
October 28, 2009 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)The latest target of “predatory” lenders. Do these writers know how absurd they sound?
Against the CFPA
October 28, 2009 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)Senator Richard Shelby says NO.
Trying to block Warren
October 28, 2009 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)We posted several times on this site about Elizabeth Warren. This piece in the Huffington Post says the GOP is trying to block her from heading the CFPA:
As the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) inches toward becoming a reality, the pressing question becomes: Who will be the first to head it?
“I’d love it to be Elizabeth [Warren],” said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), referring to the Harvard professor and chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel — the bailout watchdog.
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As the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) inches toward becoming a reality, the pressing question becomes: Who will be the first to head it?
“I’d love it to be Elizabeth [Warren],” said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), referring to the Harvard professor and chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel — the bailout watchdog.
The amendment, offered by Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), would have eliminated a broad range of people from contention. But, Garrett made clear, the best way to divine the target of his amendment is by “considering who actually created this idea for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency a long time ago,” the Hill paper CQ Today reported on Friday.
For the CFPA
October 28, 2009 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)The House Financial Services Committee last week agreed to make banks subject to state regulation, as long as those regulations do not “significantly interfere” with a bank’s ability to operate. That is a reasonable compromise between the unrestricted state control in the original bill and the lack of control the bankers wanted.
Other compromises were not so reasonable. There is something to be said for exempting community banks from oversight by the new agency, as they did not create the financial crisis. The problem is, the committee’s idea of a community bank is one with assets of less than $10 billion.
Also exempt from the agency’s control would be retailers, title insurance providers and auto dealers. Consumer advocates argued, to no avail, that while auto dealers do not actually make the loans themselves, they do make the sales pitches and therefore should be regulated.
Another casualty was the idea of requiring standardized “plain vanilla” mortgages that consumer could compare with more elaborate instruments and thus have a better idea of what they need.
States still would be allowed to enact consumer protection regulations tougher than those of the federal government, but federal regulators could override them on a case-by-case basis.
Congrats
October 28, 2009 | Utah | Comments (0)A payday lending executive has been named to an important post in Utah.
