Arbitration, Rules: Senate Republicans Strike Down New Rule That Would Have Allowed Suits Against Financial Institutions In Lieu Of Arbitration

The Congressional Vote Furthers De-Regulation Of Wall Street.

        In a NYT article entitled, "Consumer Bureau Loses Fight to Allow More Class-Action Suits," Jessica Silver-Greenberg reports about the October 24, 2017 vote in the Senate to roll back a rule written by the consumer bureau and previously intended to go into effect in 2019.   The 51 to 50 Senate vote, in which VP Pence broke the tie, will allow financial institutions to continue to channel consumer complaints into arbitration.  The roll-back, which is part of a wave of Republican efforts to deregulate, was favored by financial institutions, the Treasury Department, and the US Chamber of Commerce.

        The US consumer bureau, consumer advocates, and plaintiff class-action attorneys have opposed the ubiquitous enforcement of arbitration clauses.

        I posted on November 1, 2015 that Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Robert Gebeloff were authoring a series of special reports in the NYT critical about the use of arbitration clauses to avoid enforcement of plaintiff rights through class-action lawsuits.