Tag Archives: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau joined an exclusive law enforcement club Monday as it announced an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission that makes it a full-fledged member of the Consumer Sentinel Network. Law enforcement agencies and personnel will now be able to view consumer complaints the CFPB submits about credit issues, debt collection, and - eventually - mortgage lending practices that complainants report. An FTC spokesperson says the CFPB will eventually add mortgage lending complaints.

A rule recently finalized by the Federal Trade Commission will take effect this month, prohibiting mortgage brokers, servicers, and nonbank lenders from advertising 19 practices it calls deceptive. The rule will enable the FTC, newly opened Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and state regulators to issue civil monetary fines and penalties against wayward mortgage advertisers. The Mortgage Acts and Practices Rule prescribes a number of penalties for deceptive claims about mortgages.

On Thursday the Office of Thrift Supervision went dark in offices and locations around the country, with the bulk of its supervisory responsibilities and employees relocating to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and several other federal agencies. Come October, the agency ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô responsible for supervising savings banks and associations since 1989 ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô will officially cease to exist. The OCC received transfers of authority that includes regulating institutions with less than $10 billion in assets.

After a year of controversy, back-and-forth hearings, and battles on Capitol Hill, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau architect and advocate Elizabeth Warren will depart from the bureau and return to an endowed position at Harvard Law School come August. Date will assume responsibility for day-to-day affairs and operations at the Treasury Department. Last month Bloomberg News circulated reports that Obama would replace Warren, a polarizing figure on Capitol Hill, with the associate director.

Signaling that it means business, the newly opened Consumer Financial Protection Bureau undertook its first major stab at the rule-making process by issuing a proposed rule that would shift alternate mortgage origination from the state to federal level nationwide. The rule applies to Regulation D under the Alternative Mortgage Transaction Party Act. If enacted, it would enact a Dodd-Frank provision by allowing state-licensed mortgage originators to make alternative loans even states with laws that prohibit such loans.

Passing a bill aimed at reforming the agency, House lawmakers showed no sign of stopping in their attempts to reform the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau just one day after it officially opened its doors. On Thursday the lower chamber pushed through H.R. 1315, titled the Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvements Act, which ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô contingent on Senate action and a bicameral reconciliation process ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔé¼┼ô would swap the director for a commission and strengthen the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Following months of anticipation among critics and admirers alike, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau formally opened its doors Thursday, taking over rule-writing and enforcement abilities for 18 consumer financial laws, preparing a host of new regulators, and assuming an array of powers provided by the Dodd-Frank Act. The launch notwithstanding, a tied-up confirmation process, scale-up difficulties, and stiff political opposition from the past year hold the CFPB back, making some wonder how the bureau will function.

Following his nomination Monday, lawmakers and trade associations continue to greet Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director-nominee Richard Cordray stiffly, with spokespeople accepting his new role lukewarmly.

President Barack Obama announced Sunday that he would withdraw Treasury Department advisor Elizabeth Warren for the top post at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and replace her with Richard Cordray.

House Republican lawmakers advanced a round of attacks against Treasury Department adviser and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau architect Elizabeth Warren Thursday, even as Democrats fired back.