City council with nothing to do
May 25, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)That woudl be Staunton, Virginia. From the story:
Now {Councilman} Elder is asking Virginia cities to support a new resolution demanding reform for all, what he calls, “predatory” lenders; not just payday loans. The proposal would cap consumer credit interest at 36 percent, including all fees. It would also extend lending laws that currently cover only military personnel to every consumer in the Commonwealth.
————————————–
The Community Financial Services Association of America, which represents the payday lending industry, issued a statement to NBC29. It reads, in part, that a rate cap “would result in the elimination of an affordable credit choice for consumers,” and “lenders could not cover the cost of originating a loan, let alone meeting employee payroll and benefits and other fixed business expenses.”
The conferees
May 25, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)From The Washington Post:
The likely list of appointees, according to congressional aides and industry lobbyists, is expected to consist of lawmakers from the Senate banking and Agriculture committees, chaired respectively by Democrats Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.).
Other conferees were expected to be Democrats Tim Johnson (S.D.), Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.) and Jack Reed (R.I.); and Republicans Richard C. Shelby (Ala.), Judd Gregg (N.H.), Bob Corker (Tenn.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) and Mike Crapo (Idaho), though the list was not yet finalized.
House conferees will be appointed when the House gets back from the Memorial Weekend recess.
Comment of the Day
May 25, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)Basically the CRL won’t be happy until every lender in the country is lending for Free. Except for their “Self-Help,” credit unions of course!
Now that’s political clout
May 25, 2010 | alternatives, federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)From the story:
Last week, the Senate approved legislation that put auto dealers under the auspices of a new consumer board with power to regulate financial products. But on Monday, the Senate voted 60-30 to instruct members preparing to meet with their House counterparts to settle differences between their versions of the bill to exclude auto dealers from the new board’s purview.
“Weak and inept”
May 25, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)Forbes columnist isn’t happy with the financial reform bill. Thinks it’s way to easy on banks.
Pressure on House Republicans
May 25, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)From The Hill:
House Republicans who voted en masse against the financial reform bill in December may have a tougher time holding ranks after four Senate Republicans supported the measure last week.
Democrats have amped up the pressure on the GOP, sensing a winning political issue in an election-year environment that has turned sharply against Wall Street.
Vote at 5:30
May 24, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)To appoint Senate conferees.
Frank to chair committee
May 24, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank will chair the conference committee that will conform the House and Senate financial reform bills. From the story:
Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, will hold sway as the two chambers try to hammer out major differences in their bills, including rules for derivatives and restrictions on types of trading.
The Senate is expected to name its conferees as soon as Monday, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may not name her chamber’s conferees until after Congress returns from its Memorial Day break on June 7.
Frank, the chief architect of the bill in the House, said last week that he believes it will not take more than a month to merge the two bills.
“Step in the wrong direction”
May 24, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)Senator David Vitter has an opinion piece in today’s USA Today:
This Senate bill not only wouldn’t end the practice of picking winners and losers; it would institutionalize it.
Washington’s bailout mania would continue under the auspices of trying to protect failed firms that are “too big to fail.” The bill’s new “resolution mechanism” would provide sweeping authority to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to borrow from our Treasury to support failing firms. It would even provide the FDIC with enough latitude to run a large financial holding company for up to five years — and would let bureaucrats favor some creditors and stockholders over others. Again, government picking winners and losers, often based on politics.
The legislation also would create a new all-powerful super-bureaucracy with unbridled authority. This new super-bureaucracy wouldn’t just regulate banks: It would micromanage any transaction involving four or more installment payments. That covers your family orthodontist and vet, too.
The conference battle
May 24, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (1)Consumer groups happy with the bill but want more. From the story:
Travis Plunkett, the legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, points to investor protections as the “big hole” remaining in the bill. “The House legislation is stronger on making sure that financial professionals are responsible for the advice they give,” he says. But the CFA is also focusing on ensuring a strong, independent CFPA comes from the conference committee process. He named a loophole in the Senate bill regarding the CFPA’s ability to monitor small non-bank lenders, like payday lenders, as problematic. “We’d like to see the House language triumph there,” he said, noting that the difference would amount to millions for low-income Americans.
The Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan research group, cites whether auto lenders are under the CFPA’s oversight as an issue to watch. The Center estimates that consumers spend $20 billion more a year on their car loans because they borrow through dealerships — whose contracts can be usurious and difficult to understand — rather than banks or credit unions. Kathleen Day, a spokesperson for the organization, notes that the House bill exempts auto lenders from CFPA regulation and that car companies are lobbying hard to keep it that way in the final legislation.
