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Today, Congressman David Scott voted to reform Wall Street practices that created a financial meltdown and ruined the finances of thousands of Georgians.   Congressman Scott voted to protect consumers from predatory lending, confusing fine print, and industry gimmicks while ensuring the end of taxpayer-funded bailouts. To watch a clip of Congressman Scott discussing this bill click here.

“Unfortunately, it took a crisis to reign in the wild excesses of Wall Street,” Congressman Scott said. “Tens of thousands of Georgians have either lost their homes, or have negative equity in their homes, due to the meltdown in exotic mortgage investments and predatory lenders.  This legislation will protect consumers from unscrupulous lenders and provide financial transparency to shareholders.  Most importantly, this legislation will end taxpayer bailouts.”

The reform of the financial industry (H.R. 4173) would

§         Create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to ensure that bank loans, mortgages, and credit cards are fair, affordable, understandable, and transparent.  

§         Create tough new rules on the riskiest financial practices like credit default swaps and common sense regulation of derivatives. Requires registration of hedge funds and private equity funds.

§         Enhance oversight and transparency for credit rating agencies.

§         Rein in egregious executive compensation and retirement plans by allowing a ‘say on pay’ for shareholders, requiring independent directors on compensation committees.

§         Audit the Federal Reserve's emergency lending programs from the financial crisis and limits the Fed's emergency lending authority.

A more detailed summary of the bill can be found at this link.  The legislation must now be approved by the Senate.  Congressman Scott is a member of the House Committees on Financial Services and Agriculture, which drafted most parts of H.R. 4173. 

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