HFSC Revs Up Repeat-Offender Legislation
As anticipated, the HFSC memo ahead of its hearing on Wednesday with CFPB Director Chopra covers a wide range of issues, actions, and CFPB priorities. The memo also lists many bills pending in the House that touch on the CFPB, but, importantly, also announces a new draft measure to mandate that the banking agencies not only join the CFPB in its campaign to sanction large “repeat offenders”, but also stipulates stiff penalties in such cases based in part on a longstanding measure from Chairwoman Waters (D-CA) to break up “megabanks” found to have repeat compliance failures (see FSM Report GSIB11).
CFPB Claims Expansive Authority over Nonbank Consumer-Finance Companies
Invoking what it describes as “dormant” authority, the CFPB today announced that it will extend its supervisory authority to nonbanks such as fintechs now not expressly covered by its procedures, doing so also for any nonbank consumer-finance company reasonably found by the Bureau to pose consumer risk.
FRB-PHL Finds Worrisome Signs of Mortgage Risk
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia today announced a monthly survey of mortgage-market risk, concluding in its first analysis that foreclosure rates are in moderate bounds but significant risk pockets are concerning. These include the fact that the Black past due rate is 6.9 percent compared to three percent for whites.