Banks Pushed by Regulators Send ‘Nastygrams’ to Car Dealers

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-18/banks-pushed-by-regulators-send-nastygrams-to-car-dealers.html

Automobile dealers who three years ago won an exemption from direct oversight by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have found that it still has a lot of clout over how they finance car sales.

Under pressure from the agency, large banks that routinely buy auto loans have been reviewing records to ensure the dealers they work with aren’t discriminating against customers on the basis of race or gender. When firms including Bank of America Corp. find evidence of possible unfair treatment, they are sending warning letters to the dealers.

The situation is a turnabout from the industry’s lobbying victory in 2010, when it won a carve-out in the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law from the consumer bureau’s authority.

Dealers are learning a “painful lesson,” said Richard Hunt, head of the Consumer Bankers Association, which represents large institutions. “If you provide a financial product to consumers, you will be under the oversight of the CFPB -- one way or another.”

***apparently not only is the pot calling the kettle beige -- the pot has pulled a knife.