Consumer czar says wants banks' help on rules

[Cant trust em]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Elizabeth Warren, the Obama administration's new consumer financial czar, offered an olive branch to the largest U.S. banks on Wednesday, saying she wanted their help in developing a principles-based approach to rulemaking.

Warren told the Financial Services Roundtable that the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau she is setting up does not intend to layer on complex new rules that add compliance costs and encourage avoidance by banks.

"Instead of creating a regulatory thicket of 'thou shalt nots,' and instead of using ever more complex disclosures that drive up costs for lenders and provide little help for consumers, let's measure our success with simple questions," Warren said in remarks prepared for delivery to the banking trade group.

She said these should include whether customers can understand financial products, figure out their costs and risks and compare products in the marketplace.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68T0AB20100930

[msongs]

1. hey Liz, do like congress. just let the banks write the rules then vote to pass them. nt

[midnight]

4. I hope this is not what is going to happen...

[liberal N proud]

2. Isn't that what got us into this mess?

The animals making their own rules?

[Sherman A1]

3. A little confused here?

I thought she was on our side?

[unblock]

5. i'm still very optimistic about warren. i trust she knows how to play the game.

i'm anxious to the the results, of course, but she's been CLEARLY a strong consumer advocate, so i trust she's squarely in our corner.

as a matter of practice, she has to bring all the players to the table, so she has to at least pay lip service to giving the banks a fair hearing. if she caves to them, all is lost, but hopefully, she listens to them and says, sorry, guys, you'll have to do better than that.

[Doctor_J]

6. Dang. I thought she was going to be different

looks like more of the same old shit

[lonestarnot]

7. I'm not about to throw her overboard yet.

[tomm2thumbs]

8. let them propose some rules, then use it against them - very simple

take the concepts they present, the problems they are attempting to solve, and then say 'great, those are important problems to be solving - here's how we can solve your problems...' and then let them sit there saying 'what did we just do?'

always use the opponent's force to your advantage

[w4rma]

9. The big banks want *more* complexity. That way they can better confuse and con people. (nt)

[AlbertCat]

10. Reinstate the Glass-Steagall act... then ask for banks input!