Banks have a challenge when Congress returns from summer recess next week. His name is John Neely Kennedy.
The freshman Republican senator and former longtime Louisiana state treasurer is one of a handful of lawmakers who could squash the finance industry’s dream of tweaking a key regulation—a move that would make it easier for customers to sue financial institutions, Bloomberg reports.
Banks have spent millions to keep arbitration—and not lawsuits—as the required method for customer dispute resolution.
But Kennedy, 65, is a mystery to many on Capitol Hill.
His reluctance to get with the GOP program on the rule, Bloomberg notes, has left a lot of bank lobbyists scratching their heads. He exemplifies the challenges facing the so-called political establishment when it comes to herding a new wave of mavericks in the unpredictable era of President Donald Trump.
Lawmakers have a limited window to change the provision, and because the GOP’s Senate majority is slim, Kennedy, a lawyer and former Democrat, could be the one to cast the deciding vote.
