Not down with OCC...

Barney Frank is introducing a bill to create a lamer version of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency than was originally proposed. It would exempt several non-bank institutions, such as automobile financing lenders and real estate brokers, from oversight. This is really sad because these are the types of lenders that have never been subject to federal oversight and which played a large part in getting us into this mess. Also, they won't require banks to offer traditional financial products in addition to more confusing and expensive "innovative" products. Boo.

Meanwhile, the OCC is spending government money lobbying against other parts of the government in an attempt to save itself from being shut down. After a decade of ignoring the abusive and risky practices of its regulated entities and their non-bank subsidiaries while aggressively trying to stop state attorneys general from enforcing state laws against the same, the OCC wants lawmakers to believe that it should be trusted to look out for consumers' best interests. More on this at Banking Law Prof Blog.