WASHINGTON — In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) called out Senate Republicans for voting to repeal a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rule that holds big banks and financial institutions accountable for fraud and other misdeeds. The CFPB mandatory arbitration rule, which was set to
take full effect next March, would stop financial services companies from using forced arbitration clauses to block consumer class action suits. It also requires far more transparency of the largely secret arbitration process.
“Wells Fargo, Equifax, and big banks want to maintain their right to stop consumers from going to court to protect themselves when they’ve been defrauded by giant financial companies. Repealing this rule means consumers are going to lose twice — first when the financial institution takes advantage of them and a second time when they’re stopped from going to court by an arbitration clause,” said Durbin. “We ought to live in a society where consumers have a fighting chance and the system is not rigged against them. Consumers deserve their day in court and it is shameful that Republicans want to take that away.”
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The American people strongly support the CFPB’s rule. According to a Pew poll, nearly 90 percent of consumers want the right to participate in class action lawsuits against financial companies.
The Republican effort to repeal the CFPB’s rule was opposed by hundreds of organizations including the American Legion, AARP, Americans for Financial Reform, Consumer Federation of America, The Military Coalition, NAACP, and the United Auto Workers.
