HFSC Mark-Up Renews CFPB Partisan Scuffle
Wednesday’s HFSC markup features only one bill pertaining to financial policy, rather than to capital formation: a bill yet to be introduced by Rep. Barr (R-KY) imposing longstanding Republican demands on the CFPB. It would change the Bureau’s leadership to a five-member commission, create an independent Inspector General, and require the Bureau to consider how all proposed rules impact small businesses.
FRB-Chicago Sees Green for LMI Households, Branch Deserts for Blacks
Addressing the contentious question of urban bank-branch deserts, a recent Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago paper finds that LMI households have lower demand for branch services and thus use them less. However, Black households have poor branch access even after controlling for income, with inaccessibility said to completely explain lower branch use compared to white households. Neither LMI nor Black households use mobile or online banking in ways that offset the study’s findings, which are based on newly available geolocational data judged by complex models and data methodologies.