March 9, 2006
JS-4101

Treasury Launches Consumer Financial Protection Forum

The Treasury Department this week launched the first meeting of the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Forum which was established to focus exclusively on financial consumer concerns and to provide a permanent forum for communication between federal and state regulators on these issues.

The Forum is chaired by the Treasury Department and participants include the federal banking and credit union regulators, the Federal Trade Commission, and representatives from state supervisory organizations.

"The strength of our economy and financial services sector depends on confidence in the system on the part of consumers," said Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Emil Henry, Jr. "The goal of the Forum is straightforward - bring federal and state regulators together to share information and discuss ways to address evidence of consumer financial abuse by financial institutions."

The Forum will provide a mechanism for sharing information about patterns of abuse, including emerging trends and ongoing problems at financial institutions that are subject to federal or state supervision. It will encourage discussion about consumer protection issues affecting financial institutions in order to assure that the most efficient and effective remedies are pursued. 
The Forum will review how consumer complaints are handled by the participating agencies and develop suggestions as to how those processes can be improved.  It will also support public education efforts to help consumers recognize and avoid abusive practices in the financial services arena.

The Forum will meet periodically to discuss a range of financial services consumer issues.

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