Articles Tagged with financial regulation

Could this be the beginning of the end of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as we know it?

This month The Trump administration, through acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney, announced sizeable restrictions to CFPB’s enforcement and day-to-day oversight of the financial industry’s fair lending practices. The move comes shortly after Mulvaney was installed as Acting Director following the departure of Richard Cordray.

Speculation of the CFPB’s impending dismantlement under the Trump Administration has been swirling since the election and this is just one of the latest in a series of moves pertaining to the CFPB that lends some credence to that speculation.

This week, Richard Cordray handed in his resignation as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The early resignation comes at a time of increased criticism over current financial regulations and an uncertain outlook for many regulatory bodies. The CFPB especially, has been subject of intense criticism from the financial industry as overbearing and stifling.

As Director, Cordray was very much the face and voice of the bureau. Under Cordray, the Consumer Bureau held very close to the guiding tenets under which it was created: to protect financial consumers from unethical behavior. His departure leaves senior officials in the bureau and supporting lawmakers scrambling to secure the future of the CFPB against a regulatory overhaul.

What exactly is the CFPB?

SEC Hack Exposes Critical Security Faults

On Thursday, it was announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the nation’s top finance and securities regulator, had experienced a critical cyber security breach. The breach, which occurred in 2016, allowed hackers access to the SEC’s EDGAR system, a database which houses corporate filings and announcements for a multitude of Wall Street firms.

The SEC hack has shaken investors and lawmakers as it poses serious questions regarding the SEC’s security measures and protocol. It is also possible that hackers may have profited on the insider info by trading on it. According to a Reuters report, the database contained sensitive, “market-moving information”.

Uncertain Future for Dodd-Frank

Last week, President Trump ordered a review of major banking regulations put in place following the 2008 financial crisis, largely comprising Dodd-Frank regulations. President Trump has made clear that rollbacks are a main objective for these reviews.

Though the executive order only calls for a review, the Trump administration aims to make major cuts to banking regulations, largely affecting Dodd-Frank’s enforcement measures: Volcker Rule and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Brokerage oversight is getting a fresh pair of eyes

This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) indicated that it would be calling on a need for more oversight from its financial regulation partner, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

The decision to shift responsibility comes with an SEC initiative to devote more energies towards the rise of independent financial advisers.

Bad Week for Big Banks

Some of the nation’s top banks are facing another bad week, legally and financially as they are subjected to increased scrutiny and demand for reparations from federal regulators.

Wells Fargo faces a continued inquest into the extent of its accounts fraud scandal as regional and municipal governments, including Hillsborough County, look further into their interests     with the banking giant.

The Cause

Big banks on Wall Street had been left unchecked for too long and the introduction of sub-prime lending tactics sealed the fate of U.S. financial stability. A culture of smoke-and-mirrors misleading consumers, coupled with a dire lack of regulatory oversight allowed big banks to run rampant.

Years of bad banking tactics caught up with the U.S. economy in 2008, resulting in the worst economic recession seen in the country since the “Great Depression” of the 1930s.

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