Free Republic

Wells Fargo & Co., the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets, plans to eliminate 3,800 jobs, or about 1.4 percent of its total workforce, and close its consumer-finance branch network. The lender will take a charge of $185 million, with $137 million, or 2 cents a share, in the second quarter, according to a statement yesterday from the San Francisco-based company. Wells Fargo said it will close 638 independent consumer-finance branches and stop making nonprime home loans.

The Obama administration sent a detailed proposal to Congress yesterday for creating an agency to oversee nearly all facets of consumer lending, but the breadth of its powers is setting the stage for a fierce clash on Capitol Hill. The bill aims to establish a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to guard Americans from the abusive lending practices that contributed to the financial crisis, such as undocumented mortgage applications, the poor disclosure of loan terms and deceptive ads. Administration officials proposed that the new regulator have a broad mandate to cover the spectrum of consumer financial products and to fill gaps...