Panel OKs Interest Disclosure

A bill that would require the first easy-to-understand disclosure of interest paid to small investors and finance charges levied against credit card customers was approved today by the House Banking Committee.

The 38-10 vote clearing the measure for House floor action came after the panel rejected a move by Rep. Doug Barnard Jr. (D-Ga.) to kill the bill by sending it back to a subcommittee for further study. Barnard complained that the measure would “put financial institutions in a straitjacket,” but Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that “to send this bill to its graveyard would do a disservice to consumers.”