The gravity of what will be a landmark Supreme Court case involving the funding of independent agencies has become increasingly apparent to observers of the judiciary. Numerous media reports have highlighted how the case, aimed at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, threatens to upend the funding for many federal agencies, above all the Federal Reserve.
Washington, D.C. – The Supreme Court’s decision to take up a case in which the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals attacked the funding mechanism of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recognizes that the lower court has produced a decision threatening consumers, honest businesses, and the financial system itself.
Washington, D.C. – A new plan from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced today should save real people real money – $9 billion each year – by capping the late charges that credit card companies impose on customers. But the consumer agency also faces an existential threat that the Supreme Court may soon address.
Washington, D.C. – The record Consumer Financial Protection Bureau settlement with Wells Fargo over widespread wrongdoing in providing auto loans, mortgages, and deposit accounts represents an opportunity for all federal regulators to force durable change at the oft-penalized megabank.
A new poll released today shows voters across the political spectrum overwhelmingly back the mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), financial regulation generally and a variety of new, specific consumer protections. The findings are released as the Supreme Court is poised to consider a lawsuit from payday lenders that could invalidate the CFPB’s funding mechanism, which would undermine its effectiveness.
AFREF led a letter calling on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the banking associations to drop the lawsuit against the CFPB that would allow them to discriminate against similarly situated BIPOC communities. The lawsuit focuses on the Bureau’s warning that the federal prohibition on unfair practices covers discrimination, and that the Bureau will be using its examination authority to look for and address unlawful discrimination in financial services, including in areas outside of lending, The CFPB was well within its authority to take these actions. Discrimination is unfair and unlawful, and it should have no place in our financial system.
It is urgent that the Supreme Court hear the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appeal of an erroneous decision that declared the funding mechanism of this vital federal agenda unconstitutional.
Remarks and Q&A with prominent legal experts on the extreme attempt by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn CFPB’s payday lending rule and destroy the funding mechanism Congress created for the agency, a step that threatens to unleash chaos in consumer finance markets and inhibit the agency’s work in protecting consumers.
On Wednesday, October 19, 2022, a three-judge panel in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the payday lenders trade association in ruling that the CFPB’s funding structure is unconstitutional because it does not go through Congressional appropriations. This line of attack toward the CFPB – via its funding – has nothing to do with actually caring about the constitution and everything to do with the big banks and predatory lenders trying to escape the oversight and enforcement actions of an agency focusing on protecting and defending consumers.
Americans for Financial Reform is out with a blog post this morning blasting a coalition of big bank trade groups over their lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau seeking to reverse a new agency crackdown on discrimination in banking or banking services. They accuse the groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Consumer Bankers Association, of “trying to drag their disputes with CFPB into a more favorable arena, namely a judiciary with a strong pro-corporate, right-wing bent.”