New Evidence Reveals Vast Powers of Consumer Finance Bureau

Diane Katz / June 02, 2011

Tucked into the 232 pages of the May 31 Federal Register—the daily catalog of new regulation—was glaring evidence that the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will exercise nearly unlimited power over how Americans obtain credit and loans and manage their money. That it will do so absent accountability to Congress or virtually anyone else is an invitation to regulatory overkill.

Creation of the bureau was among the hundreds of new financing constraints imposed by the Dodd–Frank statute. It will assume policymaking and enforcement powers over credit cards, mortgages, and a host of other consumer financial products and services, exceeding the authority previously wielded by seven federal agencies. In preparation for the formal transfer of control, the Treasury Department on Tuesday published a list of 32 major rules and orders that the CFPB will administer (in whole or in part) as of July 21. (more…)