U.S. lawmakers rebuff regulators' pleas to keep powers

[one...two...tree 2,762]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday dismissed bank regulators' calls to preserve their consumer protection duties, saying their dismal track record reinforces the argument for a powerful new independent agency.

"It seems like a new interest for you," Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told the top bank regulators during a hearing on financial reform.

The agency heads defended their past attempts to protect consumers from shoddy financial products, such as subprime mortgage loans, by saying they were hampered by the limited consumer protection rules the Federal Reserve passed.

"My examiners are only as good as the rules they have to enforce," said Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090923/pl_nm/...gulation_cfpa_1

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday dismissed bank regulators' calls to preserve their consumer protection duties, saying their dismal track record reinforces the argument for a powerful new independent agency.

"It seems like a new interest for you," Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told the top bank regulators during a hearing on financial reform.

The agency heads defended their past attempts to protect consumers from shoddy financial products, such as subprime mortgage loans, by saying they were hampered by the limited consumer protection rules the Federal Reserve passed.

"My examiners are only as good as the rules they have to enforce," said Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090923/pl_nm/...gulation_cfpa_1

Are these the same folks that wanted to borrow money from the "solvent" banks to cover the deposits in the "insolvent" banks? I though the FDIC was to be funded solely through transaction fees.

Edited September 24, 2009 by Mister_Bill