St. John's University Law Faculty Blog

Politico’s Morning Money newsletter quoted Professor Jeff Sovern on August 25 as follows:

BANK EARNINGS REACT — Via St. John’s professor Jeff Sovern: “Greg Baer misses the mark when he criticizes regulatory reform opponents for saying reform is unnecessary because banks are making record profits. Supporters of the reduced regulation reflected in the Financial Choice Act claim the rules mandated by Dodd-Frank make it hard for banks to operate and are causing some to close.

“Dodd-Frank supporters retort that If banks are making record profits despite the supposedly onerous regulations, banks must be doing just fine. It is hard to reconcile claims that regulations are putting banks out of business with reports of record profits.

In an August 4 story, Potential Successor to CFPB’s Cordray Unclear Under Dodd-Frank, Bloomberg also quoted Sovern:

Jeff Sovern, a professor of law at St. John’s University School of Law in New York City, . . . told Bloomberg BNA that Dodd-Frank’s language might allow the CFPB’s deputy director David Silberman to step in if Cordray leaves. “I’m not an expert on administrative law by any means, but surely an argument can be made that a director who resigns is both ‘absent’ and ‘unavailable,’ which means that the deputy director would automatically become acting director in light of the statutory text that the deputy director ‘shall serve as acting Director in the absence or unavailability of the Director,’” said Sovern, who’s also a coordinator of and contributor to the Consumer Law and Policy Blog.
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Sovern looked ahead to the potential next phase, saying President Trump probably would nominate a permanent director fairly quickly if Director Cordray were to resign. “In addition, as a filibuster could not be used to block a nominee for the directorship, the Senate would probably confirm a nominee rapidly, unless the president nominated someone who would divide the Senate Republicans,” Sovern said.