Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

U.S. SENATOR Jeff Bingaman

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Contact Senator Bingaman's Office:

Jude McCartin
Maria Najera
703 Hart Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5521

Bingaman: Senate Passes Bill to Reform Wall Street & Protect Consumers

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today voted to approve legislation aimed at protecting consumers from misleading and abusive lending, prevent future financial meltdowns and helping New Mexico's working families get back on their feet.

The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, which passed the Senate today, will bring accountability and transparency to Wall Street by establishing an early warning system to detect and address financial instability, enhancing consumer and investor protections and strengthening the supervision of large, complex financial organizations, among other things.

"Too many New Mexicans have lost their homes to foreclosures, lost their jobs due to the struggling economy and are struggling to make ends meet.  We need to take bold action to protect against another economic meltdown like the one we're only just beginning to recover from.  This bill is a good first step toward ensuring Americans never again have to pay for the reckless behavior of Wall Street," Bingaman said.

To protect consumers the bill creates the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which will bring previously unregulated financial service providers like payday lenders under the regulatory control of the federal government.  Additionally it allows state attorneys general to enforce CFPB rules; the CFPB will protect consumers from unscrupulous lenders and give them the information they need to make informed decisions.

The bill also protects small business by requires the Department of Treasury to set a limit on interchange fees on debit cards—fees that are often the second-highest expense for small businesses, after payroll.

Finally, the Senate bill specifically prohibits the use of any taxpayer funds to bailout a financial company and contains provisions that require greater transparency by Wall Street companies in order to prevent a crisis of this magnitude from happening again.