Payday
Lending
Scrutiny
Survives
Capitol Hill
Review Period,
US Comptroller
Otting Eyes
CRA
By Matthew R. Lee
NEW YORK, May 16
– A
regulation
against
predatory
payday
lending, which
was threatened
with
Congressional
repeal up to
today, has
survived the
threat: the
deadline came
and went on
May 16. The
Congressional
Review Act
resolution
(S.J. Res. 56)
to repeal it
garnered only
four sponsors.
But threats to
the Community
Reinvestment
Act continue:
US Comptroller
of the
Currency
Joseph Otting,
who generated
fake comments
supporting his
OneWest Bank's
merger with
CIT Group, is
now seeking to
remove the
"community"
from the US
Community
Reinvestment
Act,
eliminating
any focus on
the areas from
which banks
draw their
insured
deposits.
Otting told
the ABA he
wants to make
it “easy
and simple for
banks to
understand”
the CRA. His
OCC
spokesperson
spuns that
"the
comptroller
has mentioned
in numerous
public
settings that
we need to
revisit how
assessment
areas are
defined." The
WSJ, for now,
did not
mention
Otting's
previous
history of
undermining
the CRA.
Otting has
also been
shown to have
continued buy
and owning
bank and
insurance
company stocks
even after he
was nominated,
confirmed and
began at the
OCC. The
stocks
included Wells
Fargo, Goldman
Sachs, Morgan
Stanley,
Citigroup,
KeyCorp and
Prudential
Financial. Now
Otting has his
eye on further
weakening
Community
Reinvestment
Act reviews of
mergers. The
OCC is still
withholding
documents
requested by
Inner City
Press and CRC
under FOIA
including
about how
Otting's
bank's lawyers
responded to
the fake
comment issue.
We'll have
more on this.
Even as
Consumer
Financial
Protection
Bureau chief
Mick Mulvaney
promises to
scrap payday
lending and
other
protections,
on April 20
his CFPB with
a new logo
along with
Joseph
Otting's OCC
announced a $1
billion fine
against Wells
Fargo. As one
Inner City
Press agency
source put it,
imagine what
the fine would
be under
anyone else.
Others noted
how unspecific
the press
release of the
CFPB -
apparently
being renamed
the Bureau of
Consumer
Financial
Protection -
is, compared
to those which
came before.
On April 9 the
payday
lenders'
lobbying group
Community
Financial
Services
Association of
America sued
to overturn
the rule, in
the U.S.
District Court
for the
Western
District of
Texas, Austin
Division. This
comes as the
US Office of
the
Comptroller of
the Currency's
Joseph Otting
has ended the
ban on payday
lender ACE
Cash Express
working with
national
banks.
We'll have
more on this.
***
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