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Car dealers protected from new consumer protection agency
Last week, the House Financial Services Committee voted to establish a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The agency would have broad authority–but thanks to fierce lobbying, it'll also have big gaps. Consumer advocates point to an exemption for auto dealers as one that's particularly worrisome.
An amendment stripped auto dealers from the proposed agency's oversight. With strong backing by the powerful dealer lobby, and despite the White House's attempts to kill it, the amendment easily passed in the committee, 47-21. Nearly half of the panel's Democrats voted for the amendment along with the committee's Republicans, who've generally opposed the new agency.
The exception for auto dealers sets up an odd situation: Many of the larger financial institutions that provide auto loans will be under the new agency's supervision, but that supervision would stop at the dealer's door.