#dodd-frank

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, you’ll recall, is the independent government agency that the Dodd-Frank Act created in the wake of the Great Recession, to try to keep such abuses from happening again. Trump--who promised to dismantle Dodd-Frank so his friends could borrow more money more easily (and yes, he really said that, out loud and everything)--hates the CFPB so much that he has repeatedly sent the Department of Justice into court to argue that an independent federal agency that might possibly disagree with him or his policies is unconstitutional.

When the Director of the CFPB left, Trump kicked out the appointed Deputy Director who would normally have succeeded him, and instead appointed his good buddy Mick Mulvaney as the new “temporary” Acting Directory. Mulvaney probably hates the FCPB even more than Trump; he’s on record calling it a “sad, sick joke.” Among other things, Mulvaney has killed the CFPB rule that allowed injured consumers to bring class actions instead of being forced into individual arbitration; stripped enforcement powers from a CFPB unit responsible for pursuing discrimination cases; sided with payday lenders who sued the CFPB to block implementation of new industry regulations; explicitly asked Congress to curb the agency’s powers; and unilaterally fired the entire Consumer Advisory Board.

Now Mulvaney is planning to eliminate the CFPB’s online database tracking complaints about illegal fees, inaccurate debt collection, and the like. His explanation for keeping this information from the public:

“I don’t see anything in here that I have to run a Yelp for financial services sponsored by the federal government. I don’t see anything in here that says I have to make all of those public.”

The majority in the House of Representatives just betrayed working Americans by passing reckless banking legislation known as the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (S 2155). The only accurate part of the title is “regulatory relief,” in that it rolls back crucial regulations on the banking industry enacted after the 2008 financial crisis. It likely will provide little to no economic growth, and it does not protect consumers by any means. In fact, the bill will hurt consumers – especially working Americans saving for retirement.

The new legislation just passed by the House deregulates 25 of the largest 38 banks in the United States. This is a reversal of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that sought to safeguard the public against the kind of bank failures which triggered the Great Recession.

“ ... "Dodd-Frank represents the greatest regulatory burden on our economy, more so than all the other Obama-era regulations combined," Hensarling told reporters Wednesday. "There is a better way: Economic growth for all; bank bailouts for none." ... “

“ ... Hensarling's nearly 600-page bill would defang Dodd-Frank by repealing the so-called Volcker Rule, which prevents government-insured banks from making risky bets with investments. It would also scrap a requirement that retirement advisers put their clients' interests ahead of their own, which goes into effect on Friday. ... “

“ ... Perhaps the biggest partisan flash point — the bill aims to scale back the authority of theConsumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFBP, to regulate large banks and payday lenders. ... “

“ ... The CFPB was created under Dodd-Frank and designed to operate as an independent watchdog with a single director. Hensarling considers its structure to be undemocratic. ... “

Read All

Why do Republicans insist in naming bills with tiles which are the Opposite of what the bill actually legislates?!

While Our Attention Was On James Comey, House Republicans Were Setting Us Up For Another Financial Crash (VIDEO)

Thursday, while we were watching the shiny Comey testimony, the Republican-led House of Representatives was capitalizing on our distraction fomenting another 2008-style financial crash.

House Republicans voted Thursday to pass the “Financial CHOICE Act” that begins the repeal process for Dodd-Frank, a consequential set of Wall Street regulations President Barack Obama signed into law to help…

Note: There’s well enough to distract us, but this is too important to miss:  The Financial CHOICE Act (H.R.10) would repeal and roll back: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; shareholder rights; credit card, Credit Score and fair lending oversight; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and other key reforms enstated after the 2008 financial crisis.

Docs:

H.R.10: The Financial CHOICE Act , H.R.10

Legislative Text (589 pp.)

Committee Reports

All Actions

Markup

Video of Markup Session

House Financial Services Committee (Majority/Republican): The Financial CHOICE Act

House Fiinancial Services Committee (Minority/Democrat)

CBO Score

GAO: Financial Regulation: Complex and Fragmented Structure Could Be Streamlined to Improve Effectiveness

via The Hill (more Hill Coverage)

Among its provisions, The Finacial CHOICE Act:

revokes the financial regulations passed under President Obama after the 2008 financial crisis, removing the power through which the federal government can label a bank “too big to fail,” and disassemble it before it collapses and triggers another crisis. 

allows banks to opt out of Dodd-Frank if they hold enough cash, and it would limit federal stress tests of major banks to every two years.

replaces Dodd-Frank’s Orderly Liquidation Authority with a special bankruptcy process that aims to insulate the financial markets from a failing bank’s fallout.