Consumer Law & Policy Blog

House Republicans look to undo Dodd-Frank law

The Washington Post reports:

Republicans who eagerly awaited a GOP president so they could take a heavy knife to many of the regulatory requirements for banks, insurers and other financial institutions finally get their chance.

The House Financial Services Committee, led by Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, is slated to begin work Tuesday on legislation to largely undo the Dodd-Frank law, which Congress passed and Democratic President Barack Obama signed after the financial meltdown in 2008.

The full article is here.

An op-ed regarding the effort to repeal the Dodd-Frank "orderly liquidation " authority for banks deemed "too big to fail" is here.

SCOTUS Rules Cities Have Standing Under FHA to Challenge Discriminatory Mortgage Lending

The decision is here. SCOTUSblog analysis here. Here's the first paragraph of that analysis:

The Supreme Court handed a partial but significant victory to cities today, holding that the Fair Housing Act allows the city of Miami to bring a lawsuit alleging that two banks, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, violated the law when they issued riskier but more costly mortgages to minority customers than they had offered to white borrowers. But it was hardly a complete win for the city, as the court also ruled that the lower court should have applied a tougher test to determine whether the city can recover compensation for its losses. This means that the case will now return to the lower court for it to decide whether there is enough of a connection between the banks’ lending practices and the city’s economic injuries to hold the banks liable.

House Financial Services Committee to Markup (Vote on?) Choice Act Tuesday

The Hill reports that "Panel Democrats say they're preparing to offer dozens of amendments and plan to draw out the hearing for hours, as they make the case to protect the Obama-era financial regulation law."  Meanwhile, according to CNN Money,  the "bill is likely to clear the House, where Republicans hold the majority and don't need Democrat's support. It's chances in the Senate, however, would require Democratic support to win a 60-vote majority to pass." The CFPB structure is a particular sticking point.