The Consumer Federation of America today cited the one-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the financial problems it caused as a reason for a new agency to regulate financial products and other pro-consumer actions.

Abusive lending and shady financial practices by financial firms caused millions to lose their jobs, foreclosures to soar, home values to tank, and retirement and college savings to disappear," said Travis Plunkett, CFA's legislative director. "And yet, many of the same institutions that helped cause the financial meltdown are shamelessly trying to kill the President's proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency."

Plunkett cited the results of the group's recent survey which showed that 59% of respondents favored creation of the agency. The survey also found that 89% of respondents favor a requirement for banks to disclose all mortgage fees upfront," clearly and conspicuously," and 85% want banks to be required to disclose, on the ATM machine, when a withdrawal will overdraw an account so that they can avoid the overdraft and the exorbitant fees that go with it.