NATIONAL BRIEFING
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LEGISLATION
House Passes Credit Card Limits
The House of Representatives approved legislation that seeks to protect consumers from lending abuses by credit card companies. The measure, passed 312 to 112, requires a notice period for interest rate increases, prohibits interest charges on balances paid during grace periods and bars issuers from applying payments first to lower-interest debt while debt carrying a higher interest rate remains unpaid.
Lawmakers have accused card issuers such as Citigroup, American Express and Discover Financial Services of luring borrowers into signing up for cards with confusing terms, then penalizing them with high fees and rates.
The Bush administration said it opposed the credit card legislation because federal agencies, including the Federal Reserve, are drafting new credit card rules that should be released by the end of the year.
AUTOMOTIVE
Chrysler to Sell Electric Vehicles
Chrysler said it plans to develop a full line of plug-in electric vehicles and will start selling a battery-powered car in North America in 2010.
The company showed reporters three electric prototypes: a Dodge sports car, a Jeep Wrangler and a Chrysler minivan. The Wrangler and minivan plug into a standard wall outlet and can go 40 miles on battery power alone.
Chrysler said it does not know which vehicle it will launch first and would not reveal pricing. The Chevrolet Volt, introduced last week by General Motors, is expected to cost $30,000 to $40,000, far more than most conventional cars.
REGULATORS
Cox Urges Oversight on Swaps
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox said Congress should "immediately" grant authority to regulate credit-default swaps amid concern the bets are fueling the global financial crisis.
"Neither the SEC nor any regulator has authority over the CDS market, even to require minimal disclosure," Cox told the Senate banking committee at a hearing on the government's $700 billion financial rescue plan.
Calls for greater regulation of the $62 trillion market have grown since the federal government took over American International Group. Investors can use credit-default swaps to bet a company's financial condition will worsen. The swaps' value increases as perception of the company's stability deteriorates.
