A lower court ruling last year said CFPB’s funding is unconstitutional and needs congressional approval|Adam Fagen|CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case that could potentially challenge the existence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which oversees predatory practices of financial institutions.

A lower court ruling last year said CFPB’s funding is unconstitutional and needs congressional approval. The CFPB appealed the ruling that the Supreme Court agreed to hear.

Set up in the aftermath of the 2008 stock market crash, the CFPB does not receive its funds from Congress, but from the Federal Reserve which, in turn, is funded by bank fees. Trade groups representing lenders have a problem with this.