Wal-Mart, with 500 More MoneyCenters, Needs Scutiny, CFPA

Wal-Mart, with 500 More MoneyCenters, Needs Scutiny, CFPA

By Matthew R. Lee

Wal-Mart plans to open 500 more of its MoneyCenters. Asked for comment, Inner City Press opined

"Wal-Mart's proliferation of check cashing and $4.50 for bill payment (same day) into 500 more stores must be seen in the context of the company's recent gender discrimination settlement, use of tainted cotton from Uzbekistan, and standardless sale of the resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We are still monitoring Wal-Mart, as it become more banklike without any of the regulation. We would suggest that the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, or Burea, wherever housed, also look at Wal-Mart."

The domestic and CFPA portion of the comment appeared in the Charlotte Observer and elsewhere.

"Wal-Mart adding financial sites," by Christina Rexrode, Charlotte Observer, March 16, 2010

As Congress Dithers for Payday Lenders, CRA Activists Raise Stakes in St. Louis and Philadelphia

As Congress Dithers for Payday Lenders, CRA Activists Raise Stakes in St. Louis and Philadelphia

By Matthew R. Lee

WASHINGTON, March 10 -- As legislators from both political parties dally on Capitol Hill, considering handing consumer protection to the Federal Reserve like Democratic Senator Chris Dodd or leaving enforcement over payday lenders off to the side like Republican Bob Corker, the real work of protecting consumers is done by grassroots groups.

Inner City Press learned on Wednesday of an all too rare Community Reinvestment Act challenge filed recent in Missouri, which has delayed the recalcitrant bank's application for regulatory approval for several months. The Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council, which filed the protest, says that CRA has been largely moribund in St. Louis for the last 20 to 30 years.

Now, in the face of the economic meltdown, it is back. On the sidelines of the NCRC conference, three EHOC staffers spoke of pouring over list of regulatory approvals, commenting on CRA performance evaluation, reaching out for allies to Kansas and Jefferson City. Meanwhile a former NCRC staffer is starting work at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Progress can be slow -- but it is still faster than Congress.

Lame Duck Dodd Follows Republicans to the Federal Reserve: CFPAbsurd

As of March 4, the move in the Senate is to put a consumer protection divisions inside the Federal Reserve, the same agency which stood by as Citigroup, HSBC, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase got more and more involved in subprime lending.

Why would anyone believe the Fed can or will crack down now? Beyond being lax, the Fed may have the fastest revolving door in Washington. Stephen Friedman, former NY Fed chief, reportedly benefits from the Fed's bail out of AIG. Another former NY Fed head, Corrigan, appears in Europe to defend his new employer Goldman Sachs' shenanigans to help Greece conceal its level of debt from the EU. Why would one consider entrusting consumer protection to this gang?