Just prior to the holiday recess, the House passed a comprehensive package of bills that would set new rules for Wall Street.
The legislation includes an NJPIRG-backed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) with the power to prevent dangerous financial products—including certain types of sub-prime loans—from being put on the market.
NJPIRG’s Consumer Program Director Ed Mierzwinski testified several times before Congress, advocating the CFPA as part of comprehensive financial reform. During a hearing last year at the beginning of our push, Mierzwinski told the House Financial Services Committee that a CFPA “focused on credit and payment products … targets the most significant underlying causes of the massive regulatory failures that occurred.”
To make the CFPA a reality, Mierzwinski and NJPIRG’s Washington Office Director Gary Kalman are among the leaders of a 200-organization-strong coalition that is also fighting for transparency in the $500 trillion traded on so-called “shadow markets,” and for new rules to ensure that no bank or investment firm is allowed to gamble with taxpayer money.
A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate and we expect final votes in the spring of 2010.
