(February 29, 2012) – Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) today assailed efforts by financial trade organizations to undermine current law which, if fully implemented, would help to restrict speculation in oil prices. Most economists agree that speculation in oil markets is part of the reason for spikes in the… Read more »
WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, today released the following statement about a recent op-ed in Politico co-authored by conservative economist Glenn Hubbard. In the article, Hubbard and his colleagues argue that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the government conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, should take a much more active role in helping to refinance mortgages and thus accelerate economic recovery.
The House Financial Services Committee today passed four bills, including controversial legislation (H.R. 2308) which would require the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct cost-benefit analyses and periodic reviews on all rulemakings and most orders that it issues.
The effect of the legislation would be to cripple the ability of the SEC to carry out its regulatory… Read more »
The House Financial Services Committee will mark up four bills this morning beginning at 10 a.m.
At least one of these bills will draw significant controversy, the “SEC Regulatory Accountability Act” (H.R. 2308) introduced by Congressman Scott Garrett. The bill would greatly increase requirements on the Security and Exchange Commission to conduct cost-benefit analyses… Read more »
Congressman Barney Frank, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, today released the following statement regarding news reports that Chairman Spencer Bachus will be investigated by the Office of Congressional Ethics.
I do not believe that Members of Congress should comment on specific ongoing ethics investigations.
In my dealings over the years with Spencer… Read more »
Congressmen Barney Frank, Michael Capuano and Stephen Lynch – all three Members of the House Financial Services Committee representing Congressional districts in the state of Massachusetts – today released the attached letter to Ed DeMarco, Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The FHFA is the federal agency which is the regulator and conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie… Read more »
WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank today released the following statement about President Obama’s plan to help homeowners and to hasten recovery in the housing market.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, today released a letter to Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, and Thomas Curry, comptroller of the currency, asking for detailed information about the abrupt termination of the Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) process.
Ranking Member Waters, a leading advocate for foreclosure… Read more »
Congressman Barney Frank, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, released the following statement about the announcement made yesterday by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on behalf of the Federal Open Market Committee.
Yesterday’s decision by the Federal Open Market Committee to “maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy” and to… Read more »
The President’s appointment of Richard Cordray to be the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau calls for congratulations – both to the President, and to American consumers who will now get the fullest measure of the protection promised to them in the Financial Reform bill which we passed last year. Republican’s complaints about the President’s decision to make this recess appointment are equivalent to objections leveled by arsonists at people who use the fire door to escape a burning building.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank today released the following statement in the wake of the passage on Wednesday evening of two bills in the Capital Markets Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee which would eviscerate two important provisions of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank today released the following statement about the successful Republican efforts in the Senate to block the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau:
Congressman Barney Frank today urged Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus to hold a hearing on allegations of misconduct by Ally Financial in its dealings with homeowners.
In his letter to Mr. Bachus, Frank expressed his support for a request for a hearing on Ally Financial by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. Yesterday, Coakley sent a letter to House… Read more »
WASHINGTON – On Tuesday at 2:30 PM, Congressman Barney Frank will hold a press conference to answer questions about his recent announcement that he will not run for re-election in 2012.
Congressman Barney Frank today announced that he will not run for Congress in the 2012 election.
Frank began his political career in 1967 as the Executive Assistant to Mayor Kevin White of Boston. In 1971, he served as the Administrative Assistant to Congressman Michael Harrington of Massachusetts. In 1972, he was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives – he… Read more »
WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank today released a letter to Spencer Baucus, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, urging him to take action on the STOCK Act.
WASHINGTON – Democratic Members of the House Financial Services Committee today released a joint letter to Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), calling for him to agree to a vote of the full Senate on the nomination of Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
WASHINGTON – During a markup in the Financial Services Committee today, Democrats cited evidence that Republicans are less committed to limiting compensation of executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than might be suggested by their support of the legislation under consideration, H.R. 1221, the “Equity in Government Compensation Act of 2011.”
Barney Frank today released the following statement in response to the announcement by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that Hubert H. “Skip” Humphrey III has been chosen to head the new CFPB Office of Older Americans.
“The appointment of former Minnesota Attorney General, Hubert H. Humphrey III, to head the CFPB Office of Older Americans continues a pattern of… Read more »
WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, today released the following statement in response to the news that Moody’s Investor Service has downgraded Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank today released a detailed statement calling for increased democratization of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the body within the Federal Reserve that oversees monetary policy by setting targets for interest rates. This issue is particularly important because of the powerful role being played by the FOMC during the current period of considerable economic distress.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, today released a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, calling for an extension of the public comment period on the proposed purchase of ING by Capitol One.
Congressman Barney Frank today released the following statement in response to press reports that Republican leaders, who have strongly opposed Wall Street reform, are receiving greatly increased campaign contributions from Wall Street firms. An article published by Bloomberg News states that campaign contributions to House Speaker John Boehner have increased six-fold over the same period in the last election cycle, and that “three of the biggest sources of Boehner’s campaign cash are employees of three Wall Street investment houses.”
Congressman Barney Frank today released the following statement regarding the nomination of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
"I have strongly supported Elizabeth Warren and she would be my first choice for the position. I regret that she has fallen victim to such wholly unjustified political attacks."
"The President has made the second best… Read more »
Congressman Frank strongly rejects the claim by S&P that it is likely that there will be future bailouts of large financial institutions and suggested that “you reconsider your apparent decision to diversify into legislative analysis and political prognostication.”
