Rep. Frank Says Banks Aren't Playing Nice

[Purveyor]

(10-08) 08:58 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

Rep. Barney Frank, the tough-talking liberal ushering through a major rewrite of rules governing Wall Street, sounded a warning shot on Thursday to big banks: Start playing nice or Congress will make your life even more difficult.

Last spring, Frank helped push a bill through Congress that imposes strict new rules on lenders, including a limitation on when and how banks hike rates. Most of the rules will take effect in mid-February, a date set by Congress to give banks time to prepare for the changes.

But the Massachusetts Democrat, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, said at a hearing on Thursday that lenders have abused the grace period by using the time to hike rates ahead of the new rules.

"It is very clear that this is the kind of protection that shouldn't wait and we should move forward," Frank said about the new credit card rules.

Frank also said he is open to providing relief to merchants that pay heavy fees to banks in exchange for accepting credit cards from their customers.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/10/08/national/w080407D65.DTL#ixzz0TMWQbj2J

[ananda]

1. Start playing nice or else?

Give me a break!