Category: Banking
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Lawmakers protect title loan firms while borrowers pay sky-high interest rates
By Fred Schulte Center for Public Integrity It’s legal in about half the states to pledge a car title as collateral for short-term loans of a few hundred dollars or more. Many of these states allow lenders to tack on interest that can top 300 percent, and to seize and sell off cars when borrowers…
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Meet the banking caucus, Wall Street’s secret weapon in Washington
By Daniel Wagner and Alison Fitzgerald Center for Public Integrity The lawmakers were at an impasse. More than two hours into a meeting of the House Financial Services Committee last month, the members were bickering over two versions of a bill designed to ease a new regulation that affected banks, part of the sweeping 2010…