by Jeff Sovern
Barney Frank has just announced the House Conferees' offer on the CFPB. As might be expected, there's good news and bad news for consumers in this offer. Good news includes that the CFPB will have authority over payday lenders and a greater supervisory role over smaller lenders than the Senate bill had provided; the OCC won't be able to preempt state laws unless there is a comparable federal law; and the FTC will be able to issue new regulations more easily; Bad news includes that the CFPB will be a bureau housed in the Fed, rather than a standalone entity and it won't have authority over auto dealers; I don't know enough about the politics to know how likely it is that the final version will resemble the offer. Excerpts from the Committee statement follow:
Recede to Senate on provisions relating to the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau).
· Amend Senate provision funding the Bureau with funds from the Federal Reserve System. Add House provision providing for authorization of appropriations of the Bureau for 2010-2015 (House Bill § 4111(c), page 869, line 23 through page 870, line 11).
· Add new provision to subject pay day lenders, money remitters, check cashers and private student loan providers to supervision by the Bureau (Senate Bill § 1024, page 1425, line 7).
· Add House provisions authorizing the Bureau to participate in examinations and take enforcement actions against insured depository institutions and credit unions with assets of $10 billion or less (House Bill § 4203, page 898, line 25 through page 901, line 19).
· Strike Senate provision requiring additional Regulatory Flexibility Act analyses prior to proposed rulemakings of the Bureau (Senate Bill § 1099F, page 1721, line 3 through 1722, line 25).
· Add House provision streamlining the authorities of the Federal Trade Commission in issuing regulations, administering and enforcing the Federal Trade Commission Act (House Bill § 4901, page 1197, line 19 through page 1200, line 24)
· Add provisions excluding auto dealers (Senate Amendment no. 3789) and pawnbrokers (House Bill § 4205(o), page 931, line 7 through page 932, line 21). Amend Senate provisions excluding attorneys and employee benefit and compensation plans (Senate Bill § 1027(e), page 1459, line 22 through page 1460, line 10; § 1027(g), page 1461, line 5 through page 1463, line 25).
· Add House provisions setting the standard the Comptroller of the Currency or a court must use in preempting state consumer laws and requiring the Comptroller or a court to find that a substantive federal consumer protection standard is in place before preempting a state law (House Bill § 4404, page 1002, lines 7-19 and page 1005, lines 6-15).
· Amend Senate provision requiring Federal Reserve Board regulations relating to interchange transaction fees for electronic debit transactions and imposing limits on payment card network restrictions (Senate Bill § 1076, page 1631, line 14 through page 1637, line 19).
· Amend Senate provision requiring disclosures and regulation of remittance transfers (Senate Bill § 1074, page 1610, line 1).
· Add House provision with revisions directing Bureau to issue regulations on reverse mortgages.
· Amend Senate provisions relating to Energy & Commerce Committee and Judiciary Committee jurisdictions.
· Add new provision relating to compensation, benefits and protections of Bureau employees, including employees transferred from existing agencies.
· Add House provisions:
· Requiring private student loan providers to obtain certifications from institutions of higher lending (House Bill § 4818(a)(1), page 1190, line 13 through page 1194, line 3).
· Creating an ombudsperson at Bureau (House Bill § 4106(a)(4), page 836, line 12 through page 838, line 2);
· Requiring the Federal Reserve Board to retain a Consumer Advisory Council (House Bill § 4601(a)(1)(C), page 1062, line 24 through page 1064, line 11);
· Directing Bureau to regulate exchange facilitators (House Bill § 4314, page 986, line 1 through page 987, line 22)
· Directing Bureau to regulate person-to-person lending (House Bill § 4315, page 987, line 23 through page 990, line 23).
Title 14 of base text: Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending
The House proposes the following amendments to the Base text:
· Add House provision providing emergency mortgage relief for unemployed homeowners (House Bill § 10001, page 1675, line 15 through page 1680, line 4).
· Add House provision for assistance to the neighborhood stabilization program (House Bill § 10002, page 1680, line 5 through page 1683, line 18).
· Add House provision providing for legal assistance for foreclosure-related issues (House Bill § 9115, page 1536, line 21 through page 1540, line 2).
· Amend Senate provision to provide the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, and the Rural Housing Service to define “Qualified Mortgages” for the loans they insure, guarantee or administer (Senate Bill § 1413, page 1812, line 7 through page 1813, line 9).
· Amend Senate provision to revise the definition of “Mortgage Originator” relating to seller financing (Senate Bill § 1401, page 1782, line 20 through page 1783, line 11).
· Add House provision to sunset the Home Valuation Code of Conduct and improve implementation of appraisal independence standards (House Bill § 4312, page 983, line 15 through page 985, line 15).
The proposed Consumer Financial Protetion Agency has an exclusion for banks with less than 10 billion in assets - does this mean they are excluded from the mortgage compensation restrictions?
Posted by: Rob Henger | Friday, July 09, 2010 at 12:49 AM