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 »

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, today announced that the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit will meet on Wednesday, April 1, to consider H.R. 627, the “Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2009.”              This credit card reform… Read more »

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, today pledged to work with each other and the Administration to modernize our country’s financial regulatory system.  In a letter to President Obama sent as he prepares to leave for the… Read more »

The Financial Services Committee today passed H.R. 1664, the Grayson-Himes Pay for Performance Act of 2009, that would prohibit certain compensation payments by companies that have received direct capital investments under the TARP program and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act until these investments are repaid.  Specifically, the bill prohibits any compensation payments that are… Read more »

Members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation in the House of Representatives yesterday sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner commending the Department of Treasury’s intention to issue a term sheet for mutual banks and saving associations that will allow those institutions to participate in the TARP Capital Purchase Program (CPP). The letter was signed by the… Read more »

CORRECTION The Daily News always seeks to be accurate in its news coverage, but when we make a mistake, we want to know. Readers noting mistakes in stories are encouraged to call city editor Will Courtney or editor John Macone at (978) 462-6666. nnn In a story that ran on page 1 in Thursday’s edition about Sixth District Congressman John Tierney’s reaction to the bailout of… Read more »

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today sent a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart asking him to cancel planned bonuses to executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  In the letter, Frank states:  “I am writing to urge strongly that you rescind the retention bonus programs at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, prohibit any… Read more »

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) announced today the committee will consider legislation to prohibit any bonus payments by companies who have received capital investments under the TARP program and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act until these investments are repaid in full.  The bill also prohibits any compensation arrangements that are excessive… Read more »

During the House Financial Services Subcommittee meeting today, Rep. Barney Frank discussed the AIG employee contracts.  For your information, we have put these contracts on our website.  Click the links below to view the contract. 2008 Employee Retention Plan Confirmation and Acknowledgement Schedule to the Master Agreement Read more »

Chairman Frank press availability on Tuesday, March 17, 2009. FRANK:     All right, I'm here to answer questions.   QUESTION:     (OFF-MIKE)   FRANK:     That's a ways and means that I haven't focused on.   QUESTION:     Do you agree with the (inaudible)?   FRANK:     That's a ways and means… Read more »

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) last week sent letters to the initial TARP recipients seeking information about bonuses.  The requests came after Chairman Frank requested the same information from Bank of America.  The other recipients of the letter were Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of New York Mellon, State Street Corporation, Morgan… Read more »

Congressman Barney Frank today responded to a series of repetitive, wholly inaccurate efforts by Republicans to blame Democrats, and Frank in particular, for the failure to take appropriate action to prevent bad loans being made to people who could not pay them back. “According to the Republican version of the history of the financial crisis, as presented on the House floor on… Read more »

During a Financial Institutions Subcommittee hearing yesterday regarding mortgage lending reform, the Federal Reserve, once again, unequivocally stated that the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) played no part in the nation's mortgage foreclosure crisis. “I can state very definitively that, from the research we have done, that the Community Reinvestment Act is not one of the causes… Read more »

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) today announced the committee will continue its work on financial reform that started in 2007, the first year of the Democratic majority, both in legislation and through committee oversight.  Hearings in March will focus on regulatory restructuring and the role of law enforcement in the current financial crisis and… Read more »

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, along with 17 Democrats on the committee, sent a letter today to Frederick H. Waddell, the President and CEO of Northern Trust, in response to published media reports that, the company hosted a PGA golf tournament and several related parties.  Democratic members of the committee “…insist that you immediately… Read more »

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee and Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI), Chair of the Trade Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee, released the following letter sent to President Barack Obama requesting that he urge  Prime Minister Taro Aso to resist recent calls to devalue the yen as a means to stimulate Japanese exports at the expense of… Read more »