“Unconstitutionally structured.” A “gross departure from settled historical practice.” That’s how the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently described the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the rogue federal agency led by Director Richard Cordray. The appellate court ruled that Director Cordray, who was appointed by the Obama administration, possesses too much power […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently experienced another shakeup in its leadership. After serving as the agency’s chief of staff, Chris D’Angelo is now the CFPB’s new head of supervision and enforcement—the third-most powerful position at the agency—beating out several experienced attorneys for the post. According to American Banker, the move has prompted serious concerns. […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has made it a priority “to pursue lenders whose practices discriminate against consumers.” In 2013, the CFPB and Department of Justice (DOJ) ordered Ally Bank to pay $98 million in fines for alleged discrimination against minority car owners. The CFPB-DOJ investigation concluded that Ally illegally charged African-American, Hispanic, and […]
A new report from the Government Accountability Office is yet another black eye for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The report, titled “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: Additional Actions Needed to Support a Fair and Inclusive Workplace,” surveyed all nonexecutive CFPB employees and held one-on-one interviews with 120 staff. The findings are brutal. About 25% of […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) just introduced new regulations governing payday loans—small, short-term loans also referred to as “cash advances.” Since its inception in 2011, the CFPB has vilified the payday loan industry. The federal agency often claims that payday loans lead consumers into “debt traps,” as they often carry annual interest rates of more […]
Another of the Obama administration’s top officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau quit the agency this month and went to work on Wall Street. Meredith Fuchs served as the acting deputy director at the CFPB before leaving to join Capital One, one of the top 10 largest banks in the United States. Fuchs now […]
During testimony last week before the House Financial Services Committee, Federal Reserve Board Chairwoman Janet Yellen appeared to have no idea has control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Yellen was asked during her semi-annual testimony before the committee if the Federal Reserve Board approves the budget of the CFPB. Throughout the entire line of […]
Can the CFPB ignore decades of precedent from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and fine a company 18 times more than its own in-house counsel sought? This week, The Wall Street Journal published a profile of a federal court case accusing the agency of “brazen disregard for judicial authority, agency precedent and […]
While the National Security Agency’s data collection practices are the subject of heated debate, most Americans have no idea the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is quietly assembling a massive stockpile of consumer financial records. Though it’s still a relatively young federal agency, the CFPB has already collected information on 87 percent of the credit card […]
It’s no secret the CFPB has close ties to consumer activist groups such as the Center for Responsible Lending—many of the agency’s first staffers were former CRL employees. But newly-released emails confirm the Center for Responsible Lending had a heavy hand in crafting the CFPB’s rule to impose limits on short-term loans. As POLITICO reports, […]