Administration sends Congress consumer legislation

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration sent Congress legislation Tuesday to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency designed to protect Americans from unscrupulous practices and make financial products easier to understand.

The 152-page draft bill would create a five-member board to run the agency with four members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The fifth member would be the director of the new National Bank Supervisor, the merged agency the administration is proposing to create to take over bank regulation duties.

The consumer agency is part of what would be the most comprehensive rewrite of the government's financial rules since the 1930s.

The administration said it would ensure that consumers are provided with simple, transparent and accurate information on financial products like credit cards and mortgages.

"Those ridiculous contracts with pages of fine print that no one can figure out - those things will be a thing of the past," Obama said in a statement. "And enforcement will be the rule, not the exception."

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the new agency's one mission would be to protect consumers. He said the new agency would have "the authority and accountability to make sure that consumer protection regulations are written fairly and enforced vigorously."

The finance industry opposes the idea, arguing that the agency will stifle development of new products. However, the proposal has the backing of key lawmakers including House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.

In a statement, Dodd said the administration's proposal would address "the colossal failures that led to the economic crisis with a bold and aggressive plan."

Addressing opponents of the proposal, Dodd said, "It is unbelievable that some of the same irresponsible actors that helped create the current financial mess would argue that we are doing too much for consumers."

In a fact sheet, the administration said the new agency would ensure that financial products include clear information to allow consumers to understand what they are getting when they sign up for a new credit card, take out a mortgage or use other types of financial products.

"By consolidating accountability in one place, we will reduce gaps in federal supervision and enforcement," Geithner said.

Under its broader overhaul plan, the administration is pushing to give the Federal Reserve expanded powers to serve as a systemic-risk regulator for the entire financial system. The plan also would boost government powers to wind down the nation's biggest financial institutions if they get in trouble.

The administration has also proposed to merge the current functions of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision into a single agency that the administration's proposal calls the National Bank Supervisor.

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