House Passes Bipartisan Consumer Protection and Regulatory Relief Bills The House passed five bipartisan Financial Services bills this week, including one that provides a formal hold-harmless period for those making a good faith effort to comply with the CFPB’s 1,888-page TRID rule, which became effective on Oct. 3. The bill, H.R. 3192, the Homebuyers Assistance Act sponsored by Rep. French Hill (R-AR), passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 303-121. “I am happy members of both sides of the aisle were able to come together and move legislation that will prevent costly market disruptions and delays... Read More »
CFPB, Dodd-Frank Harms Consumers On Tuesday, CFPB Director Richard Cordray faced intense questioning – from committee members of both parties – particularly about the unaccountable Bureau’s efforts to unfairly pursue auto lenders and dealers, even though the Dodd-Frank Act expressly exempts dealers from the CFPB’s jurisdiction. As Investor’s Business Daily noted in its coverage of the hearing, “Cordray confessed under grilling by House banking panel chief Jeb Hensarling that the disparate impact methodology that his agency uses…’overestimates’ racial disparities on loan pricing.” “In short, C... Read More »
Dodd-Frank's Impact 5 Years Later: We Are Less Free As the nation marked Constitution Day on Thursday, the Financial Services Committee heard from witnesses that the Dodd-Frank Act makes Americans less free. By centralizing greater power in the hands of Washington bureaucrats, Dodd-Frank results in a less dynamic economy and a command-and-control system in which regulators dictate credit offerings and individual freedom and choice are sacrificed. "Dodd-Frank erodes the economic freedom and opportunity that empowers low income Americans to rise and generate greater shared prosperity. Dodd-Frank... Read More »
Lawmakers Express Bipartisan Concerns Over Labor Dept. Retirement Regulation A controversial regulation proposed by the Department of Labor will make it harder for Americans, especially those with lower and middle incomes, to plan for retirement said Republicans, several Democrats and witnesses at a joint subcommittee hearing on Thursday. The Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee and the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held the hearing to examine the Labor Department's proposed "fiduciary rule," which will limit retirement choices and prevent lower and mi... Read More »
Committee Passes Federal Reserve Accountability, Bipartisan Reg Relief Bills On Wednesday the Financial Services Committee passed several bills designed to help grow the economy, create jobs and bring much-needed accountability and transparency to the Federal Reserve. H.R. 3189, the Fed Oversight Reform and Modernization Act (FORM Act), requires the Federal Reserve to transparently communicate its monetary policy decisions to the American people. Included among its reforms are changes that require the Fed to generate a monetary policy strategy of its own choosing. “History – not theory, but hi... Read More »
Committee Explores Appropriate Level of Capital and Liquidity The full committee held a hearing to delve in to the issue of "too big to fail" and to hear from experts on the appropriate levels of capital and liquidity for U.S. banks to function properly and help foster economic growth. "Since the crisis, U.S. banks have raised more than $400 billion in new capital and regulators have required institutions to maintain higher capital buffers -- again, under the authority they possessed pre-Dodd-Frank. I for one believe that generally this to be a good thing. But the capital standards that were a... Read More »
By Jeb Hensarling Click here to read article Tuesday will mark five years since President Obama’s signing of the Dodd-Frank law, the most sweeping rewrite of the country’s financial laws since the New Deal. Mr. Obama told the country that the legislation would “lift our economy.” The statute itself declared that it would “end too big to fail” and “promote financial stability.” None of that has come to pass. Too-big-to-fail institutions have not disappeared. Big banks are bigger, small banks are fewer, and the financial system is less stable. Meanwhile, the economy remains in the doldrums. Dod... Read More »
Committee Focuses on Monetary Policy and the Economy The Federal Reserve’s lack of transparency and accountability and the state of the U.S. economy were the main topics members addressed at Wednesday’s Financial Services Committee hearing with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen "Following a monetary policy convention or rule of the Fed’s own choosing, with the power to amend it or deviate from it at the Fed’s own choosing, in no way interferes with the Fed’s monetary policy independence. Accountability and independence are not mutually exclusive concepts," said Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) ... Read More »
Committee Explores Dodd-Frank's Impact on Financial Stability On Thursday, the Financial Services Committee held the first of a series of planned hearings on the impacts the Dodd-Frank Act has had in the five years since it was signed into law. Thursday’s hearing focused on whether Dodd-Frank has made the financial system more or less stable, and it comes on the heels of a report from the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) that many of the systemic risks identified by FSOC are the direct result of government policies, including Dodd-Frank. Dodd-Frank’s Volcker Rule, for example, has ... Read More »
Committee Seeks Accountability for Discrimination and Retaliation at the CFPB On Thursday the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing to examine new evidence that discrimination and retaliation against employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) continue. The Committee began its investigation into these allegations in April 2014. Since then, several whistleblowers have come forward to allege CFPB managers have created a toxic workplace. Despite promises last year from CFPB Director Richard Cordray that this unacceptable and offensive behavior at the CFPB would... Read More »
