On one side, bank advocates and Republican Capitol Hill staffers say that allowing lawsuits would line lawyers’ pockets without providing much relief to consumers.
On the other, Democrats and consumer advocates argue that reversing the rule is a gift to Wall Street, and use the recent sales scandals at Wells Fargo & Co. as an example of why the rule is needed. They say arbitration especially hurts veterans and active military, key constituencies for many GOP lawmakers.
In the middle is Kennedy. Banks question whether his neutrality on the CFPB rule has anything to do with to his ties to attorneys. Kennedy is a former partner at the New Orleans-based law firm Chaffe McCall and sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kennedy’s reluctance to choose a side may be an indication he’s not as much of a political novice as Wall Street might think. After all, a lot of people who didn’t know his name now do.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.