House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank today made the following statement in reaction to the front page story, “Lawmakers Plot Finance Shake-up,” in today’s Financial Times:
“Today’s story is a generally accurate picture of the current debate on creating a resolution authority, but the article misstates one point. While we are… Read more »
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, announced today the committee will hold a hearing entitled “Legislative Proposals to Improve the Efficiency and Oversight of Municipal Finance” on Thursday, May 21. The committee today also circulated draft legislation - none of which has been formally introduced - that witnesses will be asked… Read more »
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, announced today the committee will hold a hearing on Thursday, May 21, entitled “The Section 8 Voucher Reform Act.” The Honorable Shaun Donovan, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, will be testifying.
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), chairwoman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and… Read more »
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today made the following joint statement after receiving a letter by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on regulating over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives:
“We applaud the letter by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and we agree there must be strong,… Read more »
Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (D-PA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing to examine the need for more effective regulation of the credit rating agencies to increase transparency, improve accountability, and enhance investor confidence in our… Read more »
The following is an updated summary of H.R. 627, the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights, which the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved in April by a vote of 357 to 70. The Senate is considering a similar measure on the floor this week.
Summary of H.R. 627
Ends Unfair, Arbitrary Interest Rate Increases
Prevents card companies from unfairly increasing interest rates… Read more »
The House of Representatives today overwhelmingly approved legislation to curb abusive and predatory lending – a major factor in America’s highest home foreclosure rate in 25 years. H.R. 1728, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009, will outlaw many of the egregious industry practices that marked the subprime lending boom. It represents a key step in the… Read more »
Today, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) unveiled legislation that would enable Americans to bet online and put an end to an inappropriate interference with their personal freedom.
H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act of 2009 would establish a federal regulatory and enforcement framework under which Internet gambling… Read more »
Today, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation that would protect consumers from deceptive credit card practices and equip them with the information and rights they need to responsibly manage their credit. The Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights Act passed by a vote of 357 to 70.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), represents an unprecedented… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank made the following statement today after Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann issued a news release touting an amendment she offered to the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009.
“I made a mistake yesterday in not objecting to the Bachmann amendment. I did not read it carefully, and it was in the last minute that… Read more »
The House Financial Services Committee today approved H.R. 1728, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009, aimed at curbing abusive and predatory lending – a major factor in the nation’s highest home foreclosure rate in 25 years. The bill would outlaw many of the egregious industry practices that marked the subprime lending boom, and it would prevent… Read more »
The House Financial Services Committee today passed H.R. 1327, the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2009, which would empower Americans to apply economic pressure on the Iranian regime.
The legislation enables state and local governments to divest their public pension funds from companies investing more than $20 million in Iran’s energy sector. It also removes legal barriers to… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank today announced that the committee will continue the markup of H.R. 1728, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, on Wednesday, April 29, at 10:00 a.m.
Chairman Frank Also announced votes in the committee will begin at 2:15 p.m. If votes on the floor occur at this time, then the votes in the committee will commence… Read more »
In an important shift in the World Bank’s approach to development, today the Bank announced the suspension of the controversial “Employing Worker” Indicator (EWI) and a commitment to reexamine and revise both the EWI and the “Paying Taxes” Indicator in its annual country-ranking exercise called Doing Business.
The World Bank’s… Read more »
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, today announced that the committee will meet on Tuesday, April 28, to consider the following measures:
H.R. 1327, Iran Sanctions Enabling Act;
H.R. 1728, Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act.
WHO: … Read more »
The House Financial Services Committee today approved legislation that would provide credit card customers crucial protections against unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive credit card practices, which include double-cycle billing, due-date gimmicks, and retroactive interest rate hikes. The bill would also increase the advance notice of impending rate hikes and give consumers the… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today issued the following statement in response to the negative outlook assigned by Moody’s Investors Service to the creditworthiness of America’s local governments:
“I am troubled by the action of Moody’s Investors Service to issue a negative outlook across the board on America’s… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) issued the following statement in response to Labor Department statistics released today showing that the U.S. economy lost 663,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate rose to 8.5 percent, the highest in 26 years:
“Today’s employment report underscores the importance of continuing the President’s… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today issued the following statement on the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s ruling on mark-to-market accounting:
“I applaud the very important actions taken by FASB today, which has made significant progress toward addressing inaccurate asset valuations in the markets. The FASB believes the rule can be… Read more »
Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D - IL) hailed today’s passage of the “Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights,” H.R. 627, by the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit of the House Financial Services… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today announced that he will address the House of Representatives tonight during Special Orders to dispute Republican claims that Democrats are to blame for the economic crisis.
Congressman Frank will talk about… Read more »
The U.S. House of Representatives today approved legislation that would tie pay to performance at companies that have received direct capital investments under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Grayson-Himes Pay for Performance Act would prohibit certain compensation at these institutions to better align the public’s interest with the health of the financial… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today wrote to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asking them to look into claims made by Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) regarding AIG’s payments to its counterparties.
Chairman Frank wrote in his letter: “I do not know what basis there is for the point he [Rep. Bachus]… Read more »
Dear Colleague sent by Chairman Frank:
March 31, 2009
"The Days of Light-Touch Regulation are Over"
Dear Colleague:
At the markup of the legislation we are considering on the floor tomorrow, regarding the subject of restraints on compensation from recipients of a capital infusion under the TARP program, some arguments against it were that it would put… Read more »
On Thursday, U.S. Representative Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions, will hold a hearing to discuss much-debated legislation that would restrict unscrupulous payday lending practices.
The Payday Loan Reform Act (H.R. 1214) outlines solid consumer protections for 23 states that have weak or even nonexistent consumer protections from abusive… Read more »
