CFPB Announces Enforcement Action Against Capital One (Benefit for Elizabeth Warren)

Source: Huffington Post

WASHINGTON -- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced its first enforcement action Wednesday morning, targeting Capital One for deceptive marketing tactics.

Roughly two million Capital One customers will receive a full refund, the agency said, at a cost of $140 million to the financial institution. Under the settlement, Capital One is also required to pay a $25 million penalty to the CFPB. Consumers due refunds need take no further action. If they are still Capital One customers, the money will be credited to their accounts. If they're not, a check will be sent their way.

Capital One will also pay a $35 million penalty to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and additional restitution for customers harmed by unfair billing practices. In total, the bank is set to pay out some $210 million.

The CFPB action could have a collateral benefit for the godmother of the agency, Elizabeth Warren, who is now running for the U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. Warren is credited with laying the intellectual foundation for the CFPB, fought to include it as part of Wall Street reform legislation, and was named by President Barack Obama to staff and set up the bureau.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/18/cfpb-capital-one_n_1682578.html