Issue Position: Financial Industry Reform

Issue Position

Since his election to Congress in 1998, Representative Gregory W. Meeks has been a member of the Financial Services Committee (formerly the Banking Committee). He currently serves as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade. During his tenure he has been a leader on several issues including: America's competitiveness in capital markets, calling for greater diversity in the financial services industry, and improving homeownership amongst African Americans. His efforts and accomplishments include:

Being the lead sponsor of the COMPETE Act, a bi-partisan effort to reform the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Sarbanes-Oxley was an accounting reform law passed in 2002 whose onerous implementation has been blamed for driving capital formation offshore.

Passing legislation to allow American stock exchanges to offer a second level of listing opportunities so smaller companies can go public and raise more capital for growth.

Passing of the Financial Services Diversity Initiative calling on the financial services industry to take positive steps to create more opportunities for minorities and women in the industry.

Amending the Government Sponsored Enterprises Reform bill to recognize and correct disparities in lending rates between whites and non-whites and calling for the new GSE regulator to implement diversity initiatives amongst its workforce.

Working with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to create a With Ownership Wealth initiative within the 6th Congressional District to help improve homeownership rates in the district.

Supporting the Mortgage Reform Act to eliminate predatory lending practices amongst the mortgage industry.

Congressman Meeks strongly supported legislation that passed Congress in 2009 to curtail and restrict the ability of credit card companies to raise interest rates and assess usurious fees.

Congressman Meeks was recently appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve as a conferee on the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 which was signed into law by President Obama.

Congressman Meeks played an instrumental role in crafting the bill which included a number of reforms to the financial services sector including:

Creating a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to educate individuals and prevent predatory practices.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be empowered to examine financial products offered to consumers, to determine whether they are sufficiently transparent, and to help consumers make informed decisions about their finances.

Curbing systemic risk and preventing bailouts to ensure that firms know what type of risk is on their books and know how to resolve the company should those risks turn against them. Congressman Meeks crafted (with other senior Democrats) an amendment to require stress tests of financial institutions bi-annually, submitted to the firms' primary regulators.

Congressman Meeks supported language limiting the ability of banks to charge overdraft fees at ATMs and on debit card transactions without adequate notification. As a result of the legislation, banks will be required to ask customers to opt-in to overdraft protection, rather than opt-out. This will help consumers avoid onerous charges and surprise fees.

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