Kate Berry has covered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for American Banker since 2016. She joined the publication in 2006 covering mortgage lending and the financial crisis. Berry also has covered big banks including Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. She has won five awards from the Society of American Business Writers and Editors, and has worked at several news organizations including the Orange County Register, the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Associated Press. Berry began her career as a clerk at the New York Times.
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The Supreme Court issued an opinion Thursday morning that was unequivocal in its view that Congress is constitutionally empowered to fund agencies with open-ended and indirect funding mechanisms, overruling a 5th Circuit opinion from 2022 that found that executive branches must be subject to direct Congressional appropriations.
By Kate BerryMay 16 -
Many legal experts think the Supreme Court will rule in favor of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in a case challenging its funding. Such a ruling would unleash a flurry of litigation that has been on hold pending the outcome of the constitutional challenge.
By Kate BerryApril 23 -
The CFPB has dissolved the Office of Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending and eliminated the job of associate director in a move that impacts how it designates nonbanks for supervision.
By Kate BerryApril 17 -
The Federal Home Loan Bank System stepped up advances by 37% or more to Silicon Valley, Signature and First Republic banks ahead of their failures, the GAO says in a post-mortem on last year's banking crisis. The findings add to the debate about whether the system should be a lender of last resort.
By Kate BerryApril 16 -
Former Trump administration officials Steven Mnuchin and Joseph Otting are headlining an investment group that's seeking to rescue the troubled Long Island lender. Otting is expected to serve as CEO, and Mnuchin will have a board seat.
By Polo RochaMarch 6 -
Lenders collected an estimated $25 billion in additional interest income last year by raising the average margin on annual percentage rates, or the amount above the prime rate, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
By Kate BerryFebruary 22 -
The median interest rate that large credit card issuers charged consumers with good credit in the first half of 2023 was 28.2%, compared with 18.15% at smaller banks and credit unions, according to a study by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is on a campaign against excessive fees.
By Kate BerryFebruary 18 -
A clash over pay playing out in contract negotiations between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its employee union occur as the Supreme Court is considering whether the agency must get its funding from Congress.
By Kate BerryFebruary 5 -
In comments submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau concerning its "large participant" rule governing Big Tech in payments, many commenters outlined procedural concerns, suggesting there may be grounds for litigation when the rule is finalized.
By Kate BerryJanuary 10 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will take a bite out of bank profits in 2024 by issuing final rules on overdraft and credit card late fees, among other major rulemakings.
By Kate BerryDecember 27 -
Financial firms claim a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would restrict lending, raise borrowing costs and result in more denials of credit to consumers.
By Kate BerryNovember 28 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report last week examining state CRA laws that have a more expansive scope and are more tightly integrated in the state licensing process.
By Kate BerryNovember 6 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to hire 75 employees in its enforcement division as it boosts investigations against "large market actors," according to an internal email obtained by American Banker.
By Kate BerryOctober 5 -
Public policy experts debated the effect of rising rates on the mortgage market, the impact on homebuyers and ways that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could exit conservatorship at the National Mortgage News Digital Mortgage Conference.
By Kate BerrySeptember 28 -
A Texas judge dealt the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau a setback that has changed the bureau's calculus for furthering its near-term agenda. But an ambitious Supreme Court could also call all of the bureau's final rules into question.
By Kate BerryAugust 4 -
Two bank trade groups have asked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to relieve all banks from complying with its small-business lending rule until after the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether the bureau's funding is constitutional.
By Kate BerryAugust 3 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau celebrates its 12th anniversary on Friday, prompting Director Rohit Chopra to discuss the agency's work including a proposal to set credit card late fees at $8 and the upcoming Supreme Court case that could defund the bureau.
By Kate BerryJuly 20 -
Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee blasted Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra as an 'extortionist' and labeled his efforts to rein in discrimination as 'McCarthyism' during a four-hour hearing Wednesday.
By Kate BerryJune 14 -
Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, lambasted the Federal Reserve for increasing the dominance of "too big to fail" banks and failing to rein in systemic risk. He asked whether the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a better regulator than the Fed.
By Kate BerryJune 13 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued only 20 enforcement actions in 2022, but some observers say the enforcement numbers belie the results that director Rohit Chopra is getting from other ways of holding companies accountable.
By Kate BerryJune 5

















