House Financial Services Committee news stories on Newser

Insider-Trading Probe Targets House Committee Chair

Rob Quinn — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:50:41 CST

Foxes have been found guarding hen houses on Capitol Hill in the past, but ethics investigators now believe they have identified a particularly greedy one. Rep. Spencer Bachus, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, is being probed for possible violations of insider-trading laws, reports the Washington Post . The investigation...

Barney Frank to Retire

Kevin Spak — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:05:57 CST

Barney Frank has decided not to run for reelection next year, he announced today at a typically feisty press conference in Newton, Mass. “It would have been a rough campaign,” he said, according to the Boston Globe . “I don’t like raising money.” Frank has $760,000 in his campaign coffers,...

Congress Moves to Re-Legalize Online Gambling

Kevin Spak — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:40:03 CDT

Online gambling might soon be legal again, just four years after it was originally banned. The House Financial Services Committee approved a pair of bills to re-legalize and tax Internet casinos yesterday, the New York Times reports. The ban has just driven gamblers to overseas sites, supporters argue, while legalization...

Frank Bans Aide Who Joined Financial Industry

Nick McMaster — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:33:06 CDT

Barney Frank has blacklisted a former aide who took a job as a lobbyist for the financial industry. Peter Roberson worked on the financial reform bill while on the House Financial Services Committee—then promptly took a job with Intercontinental Exchange, a derivatives trading firm. Roberson would already fall under...

Ron Paul Poised to Finally Pass Fed Audits

Kevin Spak — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:11:16 CST

For Ron Paul, it's got to be sweet. The financial regulatory reform bill that opened for debate in the House today contains Paul's amendment to subject the Fed to congressional audit—his ninth try in 11 years in office to get a Fed-curbing proposal into play. Until now, none of...

Suddenly, Ron Paul Feels the Love

Kevin Spak — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:00:45 CST

Ron Paul is suddenly the belle of the ball on Capitol Hill, with legislators from around the political spectrum backing his decades-old crusade against the Federal Reserve. Paul’s been pushing an amendment to audit the Fed since the early '80s, but this time it attracted a whopping 313 co-sponsors. Democrats...

Credit Cards Rates Jump Ahead of New Regulations

Kevin Spak — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:57:09 CST

If your credit card bill just exploded, it wasn’t an accident. Card issuers have been jacking up rates to historic highs—in excess of 30%—cutting limits, and adding new fees in an effort to squeeze money out of customers before new federal regulations kick in Feb. 22. The new...

Frank, Geithner to Roll Out 'Too Big to Fail' Bill

Jason Farago — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:57:12 CDT

After months of negotiations, Congress and the Obama administration are ready to introduce new rules on financial institutions deemed "too big to fail." Barney Frank, who heads the House Financial Services Committee, will present a bill as soon as this week that will let the government seize companies, fire executives,...

Feds Weigh New Bailouts for Smaller Banks

Will McCahill — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:40:11 CDT

With the residential and commercial real-estate markets continuing to hammer smaller US banks, the Treasury and other federal agencies are trying to diagram help for institutions considered too much of a gamble under original bailout terms. Congressional Democrats are “very, very supportive” of such a move, a source tells AP,...