FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or prussell@bettermarkets.com
Washington, D.C. – Better Markets has joined other public interest groups in urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to reinstate a once-prominent link on its homepage that provided vital information to consumers and helped hold financial companies accountable for their actions. Dennis M. Kelleher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, issued the following statement on the CFPB’s attempt to bury complaint details in its public database:
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created to be an effective advocate and ally for hardworking Americans when they are dealing with or are victims of extremely powerful financial firms. Unfortunately, the Trump administration has turned the CFPB into a predator protection bureau, leaving Main Street financial consumers to fend for themselves.
“The CFPB’s latest pro-predator action is to quietly bury complaint details, also known as narratives, by removing information and links to the consumer complaints database from its homepage. This is a gross disservice to consumers, especially those who are infrequent or first-time users of the database, who will find it difficult to track complaints about consumer financial products and services or learn about ongoing disputes with financial firms.
“That’s why Better Markets joined numerous consumer, civil rights, community and privacy organizations to urge the CFPB to reconsider its anti-consumer action and keep this vital information easily accessible to the public. As noted in our letter, these complaints are meant to help consumers detect possible patterns of unfair, deceptive and even abusive behavior. Access to this information is crucial for an informed consumer, which is who the CFPB is supposed to serve—not the industry which has relentlessly lobbied the CFPB to weaken or gut the database, which this action, in part, does.
“Our request is simple, but extremely important and is an opportunity for the CFPB to live up to its legally mandated mission to help consumer finance markets work by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives.”
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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies – including many in finance – to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.com.
