reforming the reform

Adam Fagen

Bank-Backed Congressman Introducing Law To Gut Consumer Financial Protections

Less than a week after President Trump signed a mostly symbolic executive order directing federal regulators to revise the rules established by the 2010 financial reforms, one lawmaker (whose campaign just happens to have been heavily financed by big banks) is planning to introduce legislation to scale back consumer protections and allow banks to take more risks. [More]

(Tony Webster)

Court Strikes Down Fed’s Debit Card Swipe-Fee Rules

One of the more contentious aspects of the recent financial reforms was a directive from Congress for the Federal Reserve to set a cap for swipe fees — the amount charged to retailers for each debit card transaction — in order to bring the fees in line with what it actually costs to process the transactions. This morning, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the Fed disregarded the intention of the reforms by setting that cap much higher than it should have been. [More]