Put financial reform back on your radar
By Flickr user Rick Audet
As lawmakers try to reconcile differences between the House and Senate bills, they’ll meet this week to discuss a number of issues with direct impact on your audience, including predatory lending, debit-card fees and the reach of a proposed consumer protection agency.
Here’s the schedule from the Senate banking committee page, which also offers a number of FinReg resources.
Other updates are available at the House Committee on Financial Services site.
The reconciliation of the bills and amendments is in such rapid flux that you’ll need to carefully double-check any updates you read in news accounts. But it’s clear that several issues of interest to your local financial services firms, merchants and consumers are still in play, including:
Interchange fees: In other words, the fees processing companies charge when you use your debit cards at a point-of-sale computer. Here’s a primer from the National Retail Federation – keep in mind as you read that it reflects one point of view. And this PBS article includes helpful sources, factoids and a graphic.
Retailers have been lobbying to shift the billions of dollars a year in costs back to banks but what’s known as the Durbin amendment seems to be losing teeth in recent days, as this Business Week article points out. Critics say the change would erode financial services for consumers but your local merchants may be dismayed that they’re being out-lobbied by Visa and other huge processing systems. Talk with independent retailers, your state’s merchants association and local debit-card issuers like regional banks and credit unions to get several sides of the story.
Predatory lending. Of particular concern to advocates are companies, like auto dealers, that congregate near military bases, as this Washington Post op-ed notes. Payday loan and cash advance firms are another concern; this piece from LJWorld.com in Kansas does a good job of localizing the isuse.
Other topics on the table this week include more on the scope of the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Also to be discussed are derivatives – a daunting task but one that Russ Wiles at AZCentral.com managed to do a great job localizing recently in this piece about how area firms use derivatives to hedge costs. Consider using this as inspiration for a similar article in your region.
If you’re just getting caught up with financial reform, this excellent SABEW teletraining seminar, held last week, will get you off to a good start. The transcript should be posted soon; meanwhile check out the links to resources and legislation.
Several of my previous colums have been devoted to FinReg, including:
The basics. Here’s my first post on financial reform,with links to primers and historical information about the industry.
Small business. More resources for following the impact on non-financial services industries.
This is probably your best bet for localizing financial reform until concrete legislation is unveiled.
Auto dealers are the most vocal in protesting new oversight of financing operations, as this Detroit News article points out. But any business that makes installment payment terms with patrons may be at risk of more regulation and scrutiny, from orthodontists to jewelers to boat dealers. Check with the professional associations and trade groups in your area for local facts, figures and reaction.
And this post from May includes a few more ways to link Main Street to the Wall Street regulation.
