Sixty-four consumer groups are speaking out against a Senate measure, expected to be voted on this week, that would overturn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's 2013 regulation on discriminatory pricing by auto lenders.

The agency’s acting director uses a reply letter to the senator not to answer her questions but to underscore that Congress lacks the ability to compel answers to such questions.

The latest salvo by the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — proposing in the agency's semiannual report that all CFPB rules be subject to congressional approval — left many observers stumped if not outraged.

Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Mick Mulvaney proposed dramatic curbs to his agency's power in a report Monday, including a recommendation that all CFPB rules must be approved by Congress.

Critics of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have long sought to convert its leadership structure from a single director to a five-member commission. Here’s why the idea is dead on arrival.

The legislation, signed Monday by Gov. Rick Scott, authorizes 60- to 90-day loans of up to $1,000. It makes Florida the first state to pass a law designed to blunt the impact of the CFPB’s payday lending rule.

As the agency pulls back its enforcement efforts, it opens the door for state authorities to pursue more cases against financial startups for their data collection and privacy practices.

Under Richard Cordray, the consumer bureau had questioned whether affiliations between small-dollar lenders and sovereign tribes are exempt from state laws, but observers say the agency’s acting chief has signaled a more welcoming approach.

“Why we think we know better or how to protect consumers in your state surprises me,” acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney told a group of state attorneys general. “I don’t think we’ll being do much of that anymore.”

Ocwen Financial Corp.'s acquisition of PHH Corp. will help the nonbank servicer rebuild scale that's been diminished by years of regulatory restrictions and the decline in distressed mortgage volume brought about by improvements in the overall housing market.