BANKING/CONGRESS/POLITICAL FIGURES/TOM COTTON: “The U.S. Congress could act within weeks to kill a new rule that bars financial companies from blocking consumers who wish to file class-action lawsuits, according to a key Republican senator.
Senator Tom Cotton, a member of the Senate Banking Committee writing legislation to tackle the rule, said Wednesday [7-18-17] he was optimistic that Congress could pass a resolution revoking the new regulation authored by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) within weeks…
Cotton is drafting legislation that would repeal the CFPB’s new ban on mandatory arbitration clauses often found in financial contracts. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress can pass legislation repealing any new regulations with a simple majority.
Mandatory arbitration clauses, found across a range of financial contracts, require consumers to resolve any disputes through arbitration instead of joining together in class-action lawsuits.
Consumer advocates have hailed the CFPB rulemaking, arguing that the fine print frequently found in financial contracts unfairly bars consumers from seeking that option.”
-Pete Schroeder, “Republican senator hopes to kill class-action rule within weeks,” Reuters, July 19, 2017 07:31am