Today at The Bottom Line we welcome a guest blogger, Phillip Swagel. Phillip is a Professor of International Economic Policy at the University of Maryland and a former Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the Treasury Department. His blog post is on the importance of Treasury continuing to require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make dividend payments to taxpayers. A reduction in the dividend payments that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac make to the federal government would serve no policy purpose and amount to a gift from taxpayers to the investors who owned Fannie and Freddie when the firms r... Read More »
WASHINGTON – Attacks from Democrats claiming a bipartisan commission to oversee the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is somehow “anti-consumer” ring hollow in light of the record. Until recently, many of these same Democrats supported, proposed and voted for exactly such a commission. Below is a timeline showing the evolution of Democratic support for a commission to lead the CFPB. This timeline shows that even Ranking Member Barney Frank introduced legislation less than two years ago to put the CFPB under the direction of a five-member commission. This is perhaps the greatest polit... Read More »
Earlier today, a coalition of liberals groups released a letter claiming a bill (H.R. 1121) putting a bipartisan commission in charge of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is bad for consumers. It cannot escape notice that these same liberal groups endorsed proposals by Democrats and the Obama Administration in 2009 to put a bipartisan commission in charge of the CFPB. THAT WAS THEN: June 24, 2009: “Our organizations have strongly endorsed two complementary proposals regarding what should be the agency’s jurisdiction, responsibilities, rule-writing authority, enforcement powers an... Read More »
The Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, approved three bills to improve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on April 4th. On Thursday of this week, the Financial Services Committee is scheduled to markup all three of these bills, which are: The Responsible Consumer Financial Protection Regulations Act of 2011, sponsored by Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act, sponsored by Representative Sean Duffy The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Transfer Clarificat... Read More »
Source: AFIP and AIG: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11476t.pdf GSEs: http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/19846/FNMandFRECapital4Q10.pdf AFIP: Automotive Industry Financing Program (Contains bailouts for GM, Chrysler and GMAC/Ally Financial) Read More »
Watch video of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, Chairman of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, discuss legislation to bring greater accountability and oversight to the powerful Consumer Financial Protection Bureau http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000020286 Read More »
Welcome to the The Bottom Line, a new blog about financial regulation, financial services issues and housing policy from the House Financial Services Committee. It’s where Members of the Committee and Committee staff will help educate policy makers, market observers and constituents about the financial markets and legislative proposals before the Financial Services Committee. We hope this blog will inform its readers about the ongoing debates surrounding financial services issues. We hope this blog will make people think. And finally, we hope this blog will make people want to read it. After ... Read More »
The legislation, introduced by Rep. Steve Pearce, requires the Treasury Department to approve any new debt issuance by the GSEs. If Treasury approves a debt issuance, it must explain and justify its decision to Congress and the FHFA within seven days. The legislation limits the amount of GSE risk taking. On April 8, the Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises approved the legislation on a vote of 18-0-1. Read More »
A provision added to the Dodd-Frank Act without any debate requires publicly traded companies to disclose their median annual total compensation of all employees. Two months after the Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law, the Financial Services Committee received testimony about the enormous burden and complexity this provision poses to publicly traded companies, with very little, if any, corresponding benefit to investors. The Burdensome Data Collection Relief Act would repeal this provision of the Dodd-Frank Act. The legislation is sponsored by Representative Nan Hayworth. Read More »
The Dodd-Frank Act included a liability provision for credit rating agencies if their ratings were determined to be inaccurate. Within days of the Dodd-Frank Act becoming law, this liability provision temporarily shut down the asset-backed securities market, forcing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to step in and issue a temporary no-action letter on July 22, 2010. On November 23, 2010, the SEC issued a permanent no-action letter. The Asset-Backed Market Stabilization Act provides certainty to the issuers of asset-backed securities by repealing the liability provision. The legislat... Read More »
