As with merger policy (see forthcoming FedFin report), consumer-finance regulation will be crafted in the Trump Administration by complex pull-backs of current, progressive standards and pull-forward of populist goals which often parallel progressive ones. This is most clearly the case where powerful business lobbies such as merchants wield the greatest force (e.g., interchange fees), but will also be evident in consumer-privacy, tech-platform, credit-card, and “relationship-banking” efforts. This report assesses these and other issues under the CFPB’s jurisdiction, looking also at the outlook for the agency itself as Republicans gain Congressional control, allowing them to press for structural change to this controversial agency…
