<strong>A CRA-NC Conference: Financial Reform: Victories and Challenges</strong>
<p>CRA-NC will be hosting a conference, entitled "Financial Reform: Victories and Challenges" on Friday Oct. 22nd at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill.  Registration starts at 9 and the conference runs from 9 to 4. The conference will feature a key note by Eric Stein (Treasury Dept.) and appearances by David Price (D-NC) and Brad Miller (D - NC).</p>
<p>Experts will explain how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stands to bring the most sweeping changes to rules regarding financial products since policies established after the Great Depression. Much remains to be implemented, though, as legislation has thus far only laid out new responsibilities for the Bureau. After the fall elections, lobbyists, staffers and Congress will set about to reach specific administrative standards. In other words, the real reform still remains to be done.</p>
<p>The CFPB will change most of the financial products used by ordinary citizens. It will enhance how citizens are protected in many transactions. Some of the products that are going to change, because of the CFPB, include:</p>
<ul><li>car loans
<li>mortgages
<li>credit cards
<li>prepaid cards and debit cards
<li>credit scoring
<li>student loans</li></ul>
<p>There are very few citizens that will not use a product that is impacted by the new bureau.</p>
<p>The CFPB also changes the motives for regulation. It used to be that regulators like the OCC, the OTS, or the Federal Reserve were primarily concentrated on making sure that banks had healthy balance sheets (safety and soundness). The CFPB is different, because its primary obligation is to protect consumers. It will focus on their needs, defend them from predatory lending, enforce fair lending laws, and generally look out for regular people.</p>
<p><a href="http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=ztpyohcab&oeidk=a07e3170ujh10d3e314">Click for more information and to register</a>.</p>
