Last week when I was doing research for my weekly newsletter, I ran across a letter from the American Bankers Association asking President-elect Donald Trump to undo consumer protection regulations.
Before I could report on the letter, I received a news release from the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission on Tuesday indicating the process is already beginning.
Travis Hill, who became the acting chair on Jan. 20, said the following items are among those FDIC will focus on in the coming weeks and months:
- Conduct a wholesale review of regulations, guidance, and manuals to ensure our rules and approach promote a vibrant, growing economy.
- Withdraw problematic proposals from the past three years, such as proposals on brokered deposits and corporate governance.
- Ensure the FDIC remains within our statutory mandates, and stops coloring outside the lines.
It’s just what the bankers asked for.
In its Jan. 10 letter, the American Bankers Association ask that the “aggressive and misguided regulatory agenda, upending longstanding, tested banking practices with questionable and unnecessary policy actions” be abolished. It said actions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB and the capital markets regulators had undermined “our members’ ability to provide capital and credit to Main Street.”
The bankers also said in their letter that “A new, commonsense approach to financial regulation is urgently needed, and that process can begin quickly by announcing an immediate regulatory pause and review.”
They want helpful consumer policies adopted by the CFPB overturned such as:
- Limits on overdraft and NSF fees.
- A rule that prohibits medical debts from being included in credit reports.
- Lawsuits against banks for fraud on Zelle being allowed.
- Action on student loan refinancing, servicing, and debt collection.
- Action that did away with overdraft loans being exempted from lending laws.
The bankers also recommended that the secretary of the Treasury initiate a comprehensive review of the current regulatory rulebook, paying particular attention to changes enacted over the last four years, to assess the cumulative impact of these rules and how they’re suppressing access to capital and credit across the country.
The bankers said the ABA and its member banks participated in good faith in the regulatory process, “but all too often, the input from 4,500 banks was ignored, and in some cases, regulators made decisions to overshoot their legal authority altogether.”
In another announcement on Monday, the FDIC announced it has withdrawn from the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System, a group of central banks and supervisors willing, on a voluntary basis, to share best practices and contribute to the development of environment and climate risk management in the financial sector and to mobilize mainstream finance to support the transition toward a sustainable economy.
The FDIC said the work of NGFS isn’t within the agency’s authorities and mandate, and so the FDIC has withdrawn.
Is anyone surprised who’s been paying attention & remmeber Trump’s first term? He’s a firm believer in rule by the wealthy and corporations, anything else is something to say to get elected. In his prior term, his “followers” did whatever they could to turn the Consumer Financial Protection bureau into yet another “help/assist corporations/”business” bureau. “Former congressman and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney had notoriously referred to the CFPB as a “sick, sad” joke and suggested it shouldn’t exist before Trump picked him to lead the agency.
Once in charge, Mulvaney set about rolling back some of the agency’s lawsuits against payday lenders, as its overall number of enforcement actions fell off a cliff. He also took symbolic steps like requesting $0 for its budget and attempting (unsuccessfully) to change its name. Kraninger, who succeeded Mulvaney, also drew the ire of consumer advocates for releasing payday lending rules that lacked major borrower protections they had pushed for. Groups chafed at what they viewed as her cozy attitude toward the industry, too: She once told a crowd of bank executives that they were “really helping drive the agenda” at the CFPB. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/americas-top-consumer-watchdog-faces-uncertain-future-as-some-trump-allies-call-to-delete-the-cfpb-133435409.html
I’m sure he’ll forget this campaign promise: “As a candidate, Trump pledged to cap the interest charged on credit card debt and the bureau has privately done work on that issue should the president wish to implement his promise.”
I just wish those he’ll hurt the most were able to find the time & read the sources that will inform them of what Trump and his appointees & “friends” actually do w/regards to their interests as opposed to what he claimed he would so and decide he isn’t really all that entertaining & on their side as they thought. I’d sure to like to hear how one jailed Jan 6 rioter/insurrectionist came to the decision that she’d been sucked in & deluded by the Trump cult. https://www.yahoo.com/news/jan-6-rioter-pamela-hemphill-170612476.html
And it’s time more of the Dems started paying attention to & talking to more of members of the working classes, from middle class to those struggling always to make ends meet. Biden at least supported unions & unionizing and got the bill passed for infrastructure etc, and it just goes to show how poorly Dems communicate with most voters in the US that so much of that aid is doing to RED STATES, like KY, et al and yet all of those states voted for the GOP & Trump–even though the GOP is likely to roll back/cut as much of the funding as possible. Time for all Dems to talk to those in Georgia about how they achieved what they did in 2020 instead of BAU. CFPB has done good things during the Biden administration, as has the FTC, he’s yet to be given credit for that as well, I can only wonder why.
Republicans have always been better at public relations than the Democrats, and now Republicans, overtaken by the Far Right, are dishing out propaganda laced with lies and hate. Unfortunately, the American people went for it. But, with all these anti-people actions, the “love affair” with Trump is already begging to fade. There’s widespread disgust that he pardoned the January 6 criminals. It will go on and on. So many bad policies and so much harm done to our federal institutions.