Agency Is Critical to Holding Wall Street Bankers Accountable
AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler released the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision today decisively upholding the funding method Congress chose for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) by a 7–2 vote:
The AFL-CIO was central to the creation of the CFPB because we saw the suffering caused by big banks during the 2008 financial crisis. Working people lost our jobs, our homes and our life savings because there was no one in Washington fighting back against the unregulated Wall Street greed. The CFPB has been protecting working people from tricks and scams in mortgages, credit cards and other bad financial products for over a decade. While we know there will still be corporate attacks on the bureau’s work in order to tilt the playing field for the rich and powerful, today’s decision is a decisive victory for all workers. This ruling will put to rest any baseless questions of the CFPB’s constitutionality and allow this vital agency to continue its work holding Wall Street and predatory financial actors accountable.
Background:
The AFL-CIO played a critical role in the passage of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The first coalition meeting of labor unions, nonprofit organizations and consumer advocacy groups to create the consumer agency was held in the Solidarity Room of the AFL-CIO headquarters in 2009. SInce its creation, the CFPB has returned $20 billion to consumers who were ripped off by big banks and other financial wrongdoers. Recently the agency has pursued policies to rein in junk fees that cost working families tens of billions of dollars each year, including by finalizing a rule to cap excessive credit card late fees and proposing limits on punitive overdraft fees. Other key initiatives include requiring fair credit reports, reducing the harm of medical debt collections, fighting inequity in home appraisals, increasing consumers’ rights to control their own data and much more.
Contact: Mia Jacobs, 202-637-5018