In Mick Mulvaney’s final hours as acting director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed two policies that put consumers at gravely increased risk of the very harm the CFPB is supposed to prevent.
The Senate majority has endorsed a CFPB nominee indistinguishable from Mick Mulvaney, who has done his level best to dismantle from within an agency that once won real results for American families hurt by Wall Street and predatory lenders. Kraninger has no track record at all of consumer protection, or of standing up for vulnerable people.
Kathy Kraninger has put no daylight whatsoever between herself and Mick Mulvaney, who has done his level best to dismantle from within an agency that once won real results for American families hurt by Wall Street and predatory lenders. He has subverted, not advanced, the mission of consumer protection for which Congress created the CFPB.
Today’s financial stability report from the Federal Reserve clearly documents that we are at or near the peak of an economic cycle, with inflated asset prices and strong lending growth leading to signs of excessive leverage in the corporate sector. The peak of the cycle is the time to strengthen financial safeguards, not weaken them.
The groups pressed the OCC that any changes to the CRA must strengthen — not weaken — banks’ obligation to meet the needs of low-income communities and communities of color and that changes must result in expanded access to credit in historically redlined areas.
What we heard today from the diverse membership of the SEC’s own advisory committee is that they share our view that the proposed Reg BI would not protect investors. The IAC has called on the SEC to instead pass rules that make clear that brokers have a legal obligation to act in the best interests of their clients.
Wells Fargo must complete a comprehensive review that identifies every single homeowner affected by this problem, and must adequately compensate them for the serious harm they have suffered as a result of losing their homes to wrongful foreclosure or paying for a more expensive modification.
We strongly disapprove of the new proposal to change rules for derivatives trading announced in today’s meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The requirement that complex derivatives be traded whenever possible in open, competitive markets was a crucial element of Dodd-Frank derivatives market reforms.
Today’s proposals to restructure capital and liquidity requirements for large banks represent the latest chapter in the gradual chipping away of post-crisis financial reforms. The proposals go well beyond anything required by Congress, and significantly weaken requirements for large banks to hold cash and easily salable liquid assets to satisfy payment requirements in times of economic stress.
The rule, which was years in the making, created vital protections for consumers of payday, car title, and some longer-term loans to ensure that predatory lenders don’t trap customers in unaffordable loans. Underlying the rule is the common-sense principle that lenders should consider whether borrowers have the ability to repay a loan before they risk their financial well-being.