Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

In 2002, the U.S. military had just two kinds of camouflage uniforms. One was green , for the woods. The other was brown , for the desert. Then things got strange. Today, there is one camouflage pattern just for Marines in the desert . There is another just for Navy personnel in the desert. The Army has its own " universal " camouflage pattern, which is designed to work anywhere. It also has another one just for Afghanistan, where the first one doesn't work.

It's been five years since the onset of the financial crisis — the rescue of Bear Stearns in March 2008 — and we still don't know whether the financial system is safe. In a recent speech, Daniel Tarullo, the Federal Reserve's point man on regulation, contended that substantial, though incomplete, progress has been made. As an example, he cited the doubling of equity capital for the 18 largest bank holding companies from $393 billion in late 2008 to $792 billion at the end of 2012.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday issued a series of proposals to create more flexible repayment plans for the millions of Americans struggling with private student loans. Such loans, which are offered by banks and other financial firms, account for $150 billion of the $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt, but they have come under increased scrutiny. They generally carry higher interest rates and fewer protections than federal loans, and borrowers are rarely afforded wiggle room...

The front-page excerpt from Robert G. Kaiser's book on Congress ["The secret handshake that foiled the banking lobby," May 6] told how then-Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) exploited divisions within the banking lobby to secure the passage of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as part of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act. During the 1970s and '80s, I and other staffers on the Senate Banking Committee often used the phrase " Gresham's law of trade association politics. " It meant that the policy of any trade association tends to...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Thursday proposed reversing a ban on exorbitant credit card sign-up fees, frustrating consumer groups and raising questions about the scope of the agency's authority. At issue are "fee-harvester cards" that are targeted at consumers with poor credit histories. The cards typically come with low limits, high fees and interest rates of up to 36 percent. Congress tried to rein in those costs three years ago as part of its sweeping retooling of the...

With the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau approaching its one-year anniversary on July 21, I looked back at the agency's rookie year. Overall, I would say the consumer watchdog gets a "meets expectations" in its evaluation for accomplishing its primary goal of becoming an unapologetic protector of consumers. The bureau was created under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulations in decades. It was...

In her perpetual campaign to win over the many opponents of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Elizabeth Warren has crisscrossed both the capital and the country for months, meeting with bankers and business owners and lawmakers. On Tuesday, that quest took her only several blocks to the headquarters of one of the agency's most ardent critics, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which spent millions of dollars and countless hours trying to prevent the creation of the...

Discover Financial Services, one of the nation's largest credit-card issuers, will refund $200 million to 3.5 million customers it led into buying costly and unneeded credit-card products, federal regulators announced Monday. In some cases, customers were enrolled in the payment-protection plans and other products without their consent. Discover provided scripts to call-center agents that suggested customers would not be charged until they had reviewed written materials. Yet...

It's been five years since the onset of the financial crisis — the rescue of Bear Stearns in March 2008 — and we still don't know whether the financial system is safe. In a recent speech, Daniel Tarullo, the Federal Reserve's point man on regulation, contended that substantial, though incomplete, progress has been made. As an example, he cited the doubling of equity capital for the 18 largest bank holding companies from $393 billion in late 2008 to $792 billion at the end of 2012.

If you look carefully — and you probably haven't — at the fine print in your credit card agreement or in many of the consumer contracts you sign, you'll probably find a provision that says if you have a dispute and want your day in court, you're out of luck. Instead, you are forced to go to binding arbitration. Businesses love arbitration. Companies argue that it keeps legal costs down and can limit class-action lawsuits, which they warn can result in higher consumer prices. But consumer...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday issued a series of proposals to create more flexible repayment plans for the millions of Americans struggling with private student loans. Such loans, which are offered by banks and other financial firms, account for $150 billion of the $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt, but they have come under increased scrutiny. They generally carry higher interest rates and fewer protections than federal loans, and borrowers are rarely afforded wiggle room...

In 2002, the U.S. military had just two kinds of camouflage uniforms. One was green , for the woods. The other was brown , for the desert. Then things got strange. Today, there is one camouflage pattern just for Marines in the desert . There is another just for Navy personnel in the desert. The Army has its own " universal " camouflage pattern, which is designed to work anywhere. It also has another one just for Afghanistan, where the first one doesn't work.

It never ceases to amaze me every time I see yet another predatory financial product making the rounds. Financially strapped seniors are increasingly being targeted by firms offering high-priced loans against their pensions, according to a report in the New York Times. In one case, a borrower took out a loan against his pension for $10,000 for 60 months. His monthly payment was $353. The total cost of the loan was $21,180, or an interest rate of 36.4 percent, according to the Times.

This is part of the Post Live panel discussion ‘Kitchen Table Economics,' held April 16 at The Washington Post. View other videos from the discussion here. Gail Hillebrand Associate director of consumer education and engagement, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau One of the big things for kids to learn is, is it something I need or something I want, and is this something as a family we need or we want? Because it turns out all that conversation you heard on the first...

Banking regulators are set to hand down tough new rules to govern short-term, high-interest loans that have been blamed for trapping some Americans in a cycle of debt, according to people familiar with the matter. The rules, which are slated to come out Thursday, could radically alter the operations of the small but growing number of banks, including Wells Fargo and U.S. Bancorp, that offer loans tied to anticipated direct deposits of salary, government benefits or other income. Critics say these products carry the same abusive high...

Richard Cordray resumed a familiar position Tuesday: defense. In his semi-annual report to Congress, Cordray, the acting head of the government's consumer watchdog agency, defended the bureau's vast efforts to track how Americans shop for mortgages and use credit cards. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is buying anonymous data and requesting records from banks on more than 10 million Americans to gain greater insight into consumer behavior and the financial marketplace.

The front-page excerpt from Robert G. Kaiser's book on Congress ["The secret handshake that foiled the banking lobby," May 6] told how then-Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) exploited divisions within the banking lobby to secure the passage of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as part of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act. During the 1970s and '80s, I and other staffers on the Senate Banking Committee often used the phrase " Gresham's law of trade association politics. " It meant that the policy of any trade association tends to...

Senior citizens are being lured into riskier investments — and often outright scams — as carefully laid retirement plans have been scuttled by five years of low interest rates. Government regulators and advocacy groups say unscrupulous dealers are taking advantage of a growing fear among seniors that they will run out of money in their final years of life. That's in large part because many seniors have parked their cash in safe investments, such as government bonds, where returns have barely kept pace with...

Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is being barred from testifying before the House Financial Services Committee until he is confirmed by the Senate. Committee Chairman Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.) sent a letter to the consumer bureau on Monday saying Cordray's recess appointment places his authority in question. In January, a federal appeals court ruled that President Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were...

Senior citizens are being lured into riskier investments — and often outright scams — as carefully laid retirement plans have been scuttled by five years of low interest rates. Government regulators and advocacy groups say unscrupulous dealers are taking advantage of a growing fear among seniors that they will run out of money in their final years of life. That's in large part because many seniors have parked their cash in safe investments, such as government bonds, where returns have barely...