House Panel Prepares for Consumer Agency Bill Markup

The House Financial Services Committee will start a marathon markup session this Wednesday (Oct. 14), voting on two contentious measures that would create the much talked about Consumer Financial Protection Agency and impose a new regulatory regime on derivatives. The committee is expected to take up the derivative bill first. The markup of the CFPA bill (H.R. 3126) could extend into the following week. Committee chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., has been working with community banks to address their concerns about the new agency. Despite strong opposition from the America Bankers Association, Financial Services Roundtable, American Financial Services Association and Chamber of Commerce, Rep. Frank is expected to have the votes to pass the CFPA bill out of committee. Late last week President Obama said the CFPA will have the power to set "clear rules" for mortgage and credit card lenders and enforce them. The president said the Chamber of Commerce and financial firms are lobbying against the CFPA bill to "maintain the status quo and maximize their profits at the expense of American consumers." He stressed that the new agency will not restrict consumer choice and financial innovation as opponents have claimed.