Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (D-PA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, today released discussion drafts of three pieces of legislation aimed at tackling key parts of reforming the regulatory structure of the U.S. financial services industry. The draft bills include the Investor Protection… Read more »
Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (D-PA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises today circulated a discussion draft of legislation to create the Enhanced Accountability and Transparency in Credit Rating Agencies Act. Kanjorski also announced yesterday that the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and… Read more »
Following up on a memo released earlier this week, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today circulated a discussion draft of legislation to create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Chairman Frank also announced yesterday that the Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday, September 30, to discuss the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and the draft… Read more »
Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), author of the credit card reform bill signed earlier this year by President Obama, and Barney Frank (D-MA), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee, today introduced legislation which changes the effective date for the reforms in that bill to December 1, 2009.
H.R. 3639, the ‘‘Expedited CARD Reform for Consumers Act of 2009,”… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today released a report card demonstrating the poor record of the Federal Reserve in using the tools provided by Congress to protect consumers from abusive financial industry practices. Only after being prodded by the Democratic Congress did the Federal Reserve respond with a number of consumer protection rules and… 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 innovations in securitization, especially those related to life insurance settlements. Such settlements offer individuals the opportunity to sell their… Read more »
A number of factors, one of which in particular is my own fault, have contributed to my position on ACORN being unclear. My biggest error was to sign a letter to the Congressional Research Service which I had not thoroughly read and which does not accurately represent my own position in all aspects.
Part of the confusion arose from the fact that I had to miss the vote on the motion… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) announced today the committee’s tentative schedule for the final round of hearings on President Obama’s plan to overhaul the nation’s financial regulatory structure. More hearings may be scheduled, and it is expected that markups on legislation will begin as soon as this set of hearings has… Read more »
Senator Kennedy’s death is an incalculable loss to the country. His leadership on so many issues, and his emphasis on reducing unfairness in our lives made him one of our greatest national assets. He was the most effective Senator in American history because of his great talent and the respect that other Senators had for him.
The state of Massachusetts has lost our most… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank today made the following statement on President Obama’s nomination of Ben Bernanke to serve a second term as Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman:
“I strongly support President Obama’s nomination of Ben Bernanke to a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. On the whole, Chairman… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee members Reps. Al Green (D-TX), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL), and the committee’s chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today released a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report which is critical of federal regulators’ ability to effectively and efficiently enforce the nation’s fair lending laws. In the report,… Read more »
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, issued the following statement on the July unemployment numbers released today:
“Today’s release of the employment numbers in the United States presents a mixed picture. It is of course continued bad news that the American people are still losing jobs. But the substantial decline in the… Read more »
Today, the House of Representatives approved legislation to rein in compensation practices that encourage excessive risk-taking at the expense of companies, shareholders, employees, and ultimately the American taxpayer. H.R. 3269, the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act, was approved by a vote of 237-185. It represents the first piece of a larger regulatory… Read more »
Today, the House of Representatives will consider H.R. 3269, the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act of 2009. The bill would rein in executive compensation practices that led to excessive, reckless risk-taking and contributed to the recent financial collapse. An updated version of the bill can be viewed here. A summary of the bill can be viewed… Read more »
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson today released a concept paper that will guide the two committees as they develop legislation to regulate derivatives. The text of the concept paper can be viewed by clicking here.
Chairman Peterson said: “I am pleased that Chairman Frank and I were able to come to… Read more »
The U.S. House of Representatives today approved legislation that would extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through March 31, 2010. Created in 1968, the NFIP provides over one trillion dollars of flood insurance to more than five and a half million American homes and businesses. Financial Services Housing Subcommittee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Chairman… Read more »
Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today welcomed the announcement by Secretaries Geithner and Donovan that the meeting held by their top assistants with representatives of the mortgage servicing industry on July 28th was productive, and that they expect there to be a significant increase in the number of mortgage modifications. But Frank noted that there is… Read more »
Today, the Financial Services Committee approved legislation to put an end to the perverse compensation practices that encourage executives to take excessive risk at the expense of their companies, shareholders, employees, and ultimately the American taxpayer. H.R. 3269, the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act, would prevent a return to a “heads I… Read more »
The Financial Services Committee today approved H.R. 3045, the Section Eight Voucher Reform Act of 2009. The landmark bill would reform the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program, which provides rental housing assistance to 2 million low-income families nationwide. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), was approved by a vote of 41- 24.
“As a result of the… Read more »
Today, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and Joint Economic Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) issued the following statement in response to the announcement that Goldman Sachs paid full price – a total of $1.1 billion – to buy back warrants the government received as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). … Read more »
Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today made the following statement highlighting several parts of the Federal Reserve’s semiannual Monetary Policy Report and Chairman Bernanke’s testimony indicating that the Recovery Act has had positive effects on the economy for American workers. Bernanke was appointed Chairman of the Board of Governors of the… Read more »
In a letter sent to President Obama today, four leading House members with primary legislative responsibility for U.S. participation in the international financial institutions noted their surprise and disappointment at the signing statement issued by the President when he recently approved the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009. In the… Read more »
During today’s House Financial Services Committee Hearing on Monetary Policy, Federal Reserve Chairman Benjamin Bernanke confirmed that the Recovery Act is working to prevent higher unemployment.
The positive effects of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act continue to multiply in each state, and the economy would be worse off without the Recovery Act.
From the Hearing… Read more »
Today, Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) circulated a “discussion draft” on executive compensation to members of the Financial Services Committee. The draft is based on “Say-on-Pay” legislation that passed the House in 2007 and legislative proposals released yesterday by the Treasury Department. Mr. Frank also stated yesterday that the committee plans to mark up… Read more »
Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) issued the following statement today on executive compensation:
“The recent news of compensation on Wall Street shows that some financial leaders yearn for the stirring return of yesteryear and demonstrates the need to adopt legislation on executive pay. It’s a question of empowering the shareholders to decide the… Read more »
