Despite broad popular support for the CFPB, the House Financial Services Committee depicts it as “a bogeyman that’s menacing borrowers and homebuyers,” says Susan Antilla (The Street, 2/13).
“’Eventually, the legislators who have acted this way are going to realize how wildly out of touch they are with their own constituents,” AFR’s Jim Lardner told Antilla. “They’re running the risk of being seen as pawns of Wall Street and slippery lenders.”
Half of the big Wall Street banks are using their foreign ownership to escape key provisions of Dodd-Frank. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. “Whether the foreign banking rule gets done is a big test,” Marcus Stanley, policy director at Americans for Financial Reform, told the New York Times, adding: “Considering the number of problems with American banks that have occurred in London subsidiaries, I would appreciate seeing the Europeans raise the bar for foreign operations of American banks. That would be a win for the American taxpayer.’”
The Leadership Conference and AFR sent a letter to the Department of Justice urging continued vigilance in preventing fraudulent transactions and protecting consumers. The Department’s recent complaint against Four Oaks Bank & Trust demonstrated the extent to which fraudsters can abuse consumers when key safeguards designed to protect the payment networks are ignored
“We are very concerned that [Sharon] Bowen, much like Tim Massad who has been nominated to be Chairman, lacks both significant experience in the derivatives and commodity markets that the CFTC oversees, and any public record as a champion of reform in these markets. We expect that Senators will have many tough questions to ask as they consider the set of CFTC nominations before them in the New Year.”
“[W]e thank you for your work in drafting an effective rule implementing section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Given that three years have passed since the enactment of the law , we urge you to move quickly to put the final rule in place.”
“Assistant Secretary Massad has not, in his previous work, been required to address the issues the CFTC is responsible for. It is not clear from what we know whether he is the right person for the job. There needs to be a serious inquiry into his views and perspectives as part of the consideration of his confirmation.”
