The Trump Administration has done something that no other Administration accomplished–the implementation of a regulatory budget. A regulatory budget places a ceiling on the total costs that regulators can impose on the regulated community.
It is, and continues to be, a very controversial program. Notwithstanding the laudatory actions of the Trump Administration, it is unlikely that a regulatory budget will survive a new Administration unless it is modified.
by James Baldinger, Elizabeth Bohn | Carlton Fields Jorden Burt
Since it opened in 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“the Bureau” or “CFPB”) has issued thousands of pages of regulations, mostly directed at the home mortgage industry, and aggressively exercised its authority to enforce consumer financial protection law. Dozens of enforcement lawsuits and administrative proceedings filed by the Bureau against major players in the credit card, mortgage, real estate settlement, auto, and debt collection industries have resulted in assessment of more than $1 billion in penalties and refunds against the targeted companies, along with imposition of costly modifications to industry business practices and continued reporting requirements.
From: Watchdog.org
By Kenric Ward
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Costly building renovations at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are raising more congressional concerns that the agency is out of control.
A government report pegs the price of the work at $210 million — $120 million more than initial estimates, with off-site leasing costs included.
“That’s more per square foot than the Bellagio hotel-casino in Las Vegas,” said John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
And, critics add, CFPB doesn’t even own the building.
From: WSJ | Total Return
By Alan Zibel
In the aftermath of the financial crisis, U.S. regulators imposed new requirements on credit-card companies and mortgage lenders, mandating that they evaluate whether borrowers have the financial resources to pay back their loans. Now, the focus is on high-cost, short-term “payday” loans.
The principle—that lenders should avoid making loans to borrowers who can’t afford them—may sound simple. But translating such a concept into rules lenders can follow is much more difficult in practice, particularly for low-income borrowers who take out payday loans. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is facing such a task as it works on the first set of national rules for the $46 billion payday-lending industry.