Consumer Financial Protection Agency bill introduced in House

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., has introduced legislation proposed by President Obama to set up a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The bill, HR 3126, would give the proposed independent agency the authority to make and enforce rules to protect consumers who buy financial products such as mortgages and credit cards. The legislation “addresses an issue at the heart of the financial crisis,” Mr. Frank said in a statement released late yesterday. The lack of mortgage modifications and fee increases “reinforce the need for this bill,” he said. The Financial Services Committee will act on the legislation this month, Mr. Frank said. The bill is the same as the administration draft, except that it preserves the role of federal banking regulators to enforce the Community Reinvestment Act, which requires banks to serve low-income communities. Mr. Frank also said that the committee will take up the issue of a new national bank regulator that would merge the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision at a later date. Twelve Democrats joined him in introducing the legislation.