Today, in response to Senate passage of a Joint Resolution to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rule to protect consumers by restricting forced arbitration clauses, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, issued the following statement:

“Earlier this year, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an important rule to prohibit forced arbitration clauses in consumer contracts for financial products. These clauses, which are buried deep in the fine print, benefit large corporations and Wall Street banks and hurt consumers. As it has consistently done, the Consumer Bureau took strong action to make our financial marketplace fairer and more transparent by banning the practice. But now, in a huge gift to Wall Street, Republicans in Congress have stepped in to cancel the Consumer Bureau's rule.

“The shameful move to repeal the forced arbitration rule will rob consumers who have been wronged by financial institutions of their right to join together and have their day in court, and allow financial institutions to get off the hook when they commit wrongdoing. In voting to nullify the rule, Congressional Republicans have sided with companies like Equifax and Wells Fargo over the consumers they have harmed.”

In July, Ranking Member Waters released a Democratic staff report documenting the successes of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the importance of the Consumer Bureau's rule on forced arbitration.

Ranking Member Waters led opposition to the Joint Resolution in the House.

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