September 29, 2009
Consumer and Banking Scholars Show Support
for the Consumer Financial Protection Act Hempstead and Jamaica,
NY
On September 30, 2009, the House Financial Services Committee,
chaired by Representative Barney Frank, will hold hearings on H.
3126, titled “the Consumer Financial Protection Act” which would
create an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Today
more than seventy law scholars who teach in fields related to
consumer law and banking law have signed a detailed
Statement of Support demonstrating their strong views about the
importance of this legislation.
The faculty endorsing the Statement of Support include leading
scholars who teach in fields related to consumer law and banking
law who teach at many of the nation’s leading American law
schools—in states including Alabama, Arizona, California,
Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York,
Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming as well
as Washington, D.C. The signatories have no economic stake in the
passage of this legislation.
The Statement concludes that on balance, the existing regulatory
structure places “a higher value on protecting the interest of
financial product vendors who promote complex debt instruments
using aggressive sales practices, than on protecting the interests
of consumers in transparent, safe, and fair financial
products.”
The body of the Statement is 8 pages long, single-spaced. It
refers specifically to dozens of scholarly articles and studies
demonstrating that at “critical moments of consumer confusion and
vulnerability,” the existing regulators “have been unwilling to
expend resources to develop appropriate rules and guidelines and to
police mortgage and credit instruments.” The Statement urges
passage of H. 3126 because “consolidated authority and a dedicated
consumer-oriented mission would be likely to improve public
confidence in the safety and efficiency of the vast consumer
financial products marketplace.” It further provides an analysis of
desirable aspects of the legislation and points to extensive
scholarship supporting the need for a new approach to handling
consumer financial regulation.
For further information please contact the signatories of the
Statement at their home institutions:
Jeff Sovern
Professor of Law
St. John's University School of Law
718-990-6429
sovernj@stjohns.edu
Norman I. Silber
Professor of Law
Hofstra Law School
516-463-5866
norman.i.silber@hofstra.edu
law.hofstra.edu