Republicans to predatory companies: Grab as much as you can
The White House may be in chaos. But at least Congress is addressing the issue Americans care about most: making it easier for the finance industry to rip them off.
Last week, Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, circulated an outline of his latest plan to repeal Dodd-Frank. Dodd-Frank, you may recall, was put in place after the financial crisis to reduce our chances of having another one.
The law isn’t perfect, but it did have at least one critical, mostly popular component: It created an agency dedicated solely to helping consumers fight back when financial institutions cheat or mislead them.
This agency is called the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). It oversees large banks, thrifts and credit unions, along with lots of companies in the “nonbank” universe, such as mortgage brokers and servicers, payday lenders, debt collectors, private student lenders and credit bureaus.
While the CFPB may not have the same name recognition as, say, the Federal Reserve, many of its actions have generated big headlines.
Remember when Wells Fargo got caught creating millions of fake customer accounts? The bureau helped lead that investigation, which resulted in a $185 million settlement.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-to-predatory-companies-grab-as-much-as-you-can/2017/02/13/07d43050-f232-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html?tid=pm_opinions_pop&utm_term=.a6eb2181ae54