Publication

The House approved a bill Tuesday that gives the administrator of the Small Business Administration discretion to increase the lending authority of the agency’s flagship 7(a) loan guarantee program by 15% in periods of high demand.

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WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday repealed controversial 2013 guidance by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that allowed it to go after indirect auto lenders. The vote was a big win for Republicans trying to rein in the agency.

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Private lenders hold just a fraction of the outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. -- about 7.7 percent as of last year. But those companies have plans to grow their student loan holdings.

And they argue that with the help of Congress, they could play an even bigger role in the student loan marketplace -- as they formerly did.

Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, compared the agency’s public database of complaints to “a Yelp for financial services sponsored by the federal government.” Credit Tom Brenner/The New York Times

Financial companies have worked to diminish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s powers since the day the agency was created. Now, they’re on the brink of having one of their top demands granted: an end to the regulator’s public database of complaints about their products and services.

Consumer bankers are not against regulation, Richard Hunt insists.

He makes the point just seconds into an interview at the Consumer Bankers Association offices off Franklin Square in downtown Washington, even before he’s being recorded. As the head of the group, he tries to emphasize that banks want some of the Obama administration's excess regulation reeled in, not complete elimination of rules that some Republicans want.

The acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on Tuesday said he might remove a database of complaints to the agency from public view.

Acting CFPB chief Mick Mulvaney said the bureau’s public consumer complaint database contained information not vetted by the agency that could be used unfairly against banks and lenders.

The concept of storytelling often is viewed through a somewhat whimsical lens. However, in the context of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) compliance, it is viewed through in a much more serious light.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Bankers Association on Wednesday asked lawmakers to rein in regulations that were meant to prevent robocalls but that the group says have inadvertently captured legitimate calls, too.

The letter, sent to the Senate Commerce Committee, was in response to a hearing Wednesday in which federal regulators testified on how to stop rampant illegal robocalling. Complaints about robocalls quadrupled from 2009 to 2017, averaging 400,000 complaints a month, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

The Senate voted Wednesday 51-47 to block guidance issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2013 that was meant to stop discriminatory markups on indirect loans made by car dealers.

The Congressional Review Act resolution passed with the support of a single Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, while some key Republicans, including Sen. John McCain of Arizona, missed the vote.