The U.S. Senate on March 14 passed S.2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the Act), by a vote of 67 to 31.  Although the Act would not make the sweeping changes to the Dodd-Frank Act found in the Financial CHOICE Act of 2017 (CHOICE Act), it, nevertheless, would provide financial institutions welcome relief from a number of specific Dodd-Frank provisions.… Continue Reading

The report issued earlier this week by the U.S. Treasury Department to President Trump in response to his February 2017 Executive Order 13772, “A Financial System That Creates Economic Opportunities-Banks and Credit Unions,” recommends numerous CFPB changes.

Entitled “Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System,” the Executive Order was a high-level policy statement consisting of a series of Core Principles designed to inform the manner in which the Trump Administration regulates the financial system. … Continue Reading

On May 26, the House of Representatives Committee on Rules announced that House members have until June 2 to propose amendments to the Financial Choice Act bill.  The Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Jeb Hensarling, is expected to introduce an amendment to strike from the bill the provision which purports to repeal the Durbin Amendment. … Continue Reading

On May 4 H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act (the Act) introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, obtained enough votes to move the bill on to the House of Representatives floor.  The Act seeks to rollback or modify many of the regulatory and supervisory requirements imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act.… Continue Reading

Last Thursday, by a party-line vote of 34-26, the House Financial Services Committee approved the Financial CHOICE Act (H.R. 10) proposed by Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling.

In addition to overhauling the CFPB’s structure and authority, the bill would make significant changes to the rulemaking process followed by the CFPB and other financial services regulators, including the Fed, FDIC, OCC and NCUA. … Continue Reading

The House Financial Services Committee has released the witness list for the hearing it will hold this Wednesday, April 26, 2017, to discuss the Financial CHOICE Act.

The witnesses will be:

  • John Allison, Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Cato Institute
  • Dr. Norbert J. Michel, Senior Research Fellow, Financial Regulations and Monetary Policy Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity, The Heritage Foundation
  • Hester Peirce, Director of Financial Markets Working Group and Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center
  • Alex J.
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The House Financial Services Committee announced that it will hold a hearing on April 26, 2017 to discuss the Financial CHOICE Act.  It also released a discussion draft of a revised version of the bill.

In February, Rep. Hensarling, who chairs the Committee, circulated a memorandum to the Committee’s Leadership Team describing key revisions to the bill introduced last year. … Continue Reading

On February 6, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Hensarling circulated a memorandum to the House Financial Services Committee Leadership Team describing key revisions to the Financial Choice Act.  Last week, he issued in outline form a so-called “Summary of Bill Changes” which identified further revisions to the Choice Act, which he referred to as “Choice 2.0”, some of which address subjects not covered in his February 6 revisions, which he referred to as “Choice 1.0.”… Continue Reading

Although the Trump Administration has largely been silent with respect to Dodd-Frank and the future of the CFPB, some members of Congress have been very active in proposing significant legislative changes. Several measures to reform the agency are pending in the House and Senate. These bills can generally be broken down into two categories.… Continue Reading