Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA)
In recent years, federal bank regulators looked the other way as tricky financial products with hidden costs and fees crowded out responsible loans. Dangerous products have stifled true innovation, depriving consumers of meaningful choices and leading the nation into today's financial crisis. We don't always need more regulation, but rather more effective regulation that is targeted and up-to-date.
CRL is a member of Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of nearly 200 national, state and local consumer, employee, investor, community and civil rights organizations that have come together to spearhead a campaign for real reform in our banking and financial system.
Learn more about consumer protection:
- Consumer Financial Protection Agency: Myths versus Reality
- Neglect and Inaction: An Analysis of Federal Banking Regulators' Failure to Enforce Consumer Protectionsoutlines the federal regulatory enforcement failures, by the OCC and OTS , that demonstrate the urgent need for regulatory reform, specifically the need for an agency devoted solely to consumer protection like the Consumer Financial Protection Agency being considered by Congress.
- Just the Facts: Overview of the Obama Administration's Proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
- As Congress considers how to address improving consumer protection and regulation of our financial system going forward over the next several months, we offer Six Principles for Real Reform: Balancing Bank Safety and Sensible Lending.
- Kathleen Keest, Senior Policy Counsel at CRL, testified before the House Financial Services Committee on CRL's support for a strong, state-of-the-art consumer protection agency for financial products -- provided that the agency is independent of the companies it regulates, and fully transparent and accountable to the public. Read her testimony: Regulatory Restructuring: Enhancing Consumer Financial Products Regulation
- Ellen Harnick, CRL Senior Policy Counsel, makes the case for a strong Consumer Protection Agency in the Washington Post's economic policy blog, "The Hearing," arguing that the current bank regulatory structure has encouraged agencies to sacrifice important consumer protections.
- In this column in the Los Angeles Times, David Lazarus calls for a new agency and stronger oversight.