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WASHINGTON – Rohit Chopra has been officially confirmed as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, signaling a return to more aggressive oversight of financial services companies within the agency.
The US Senate on Thursday voted 50-48 to approve Chopra’s nomination to party lines. As head of the CFPB, he will face intense pressure from progressive Democrats, who expect him to revive the agency they say was put on hold during the Trump administration. . If he manages to turn the agency around, life may become less pleasant for car dealerships, banks, credit bureaus, credit card companies, and student and payday lenders.
“The industry has not had to worry about the activities of the CFPB for almost four years,” said Isaac Boltansky, policy analyst at Compass Point Research & Trading. “But with Chopra in the chair, the bureau is suddenly at the top of the list of concerns for most consumer finance companies.”
Chopra has a key ally in criticism of Wall Street US Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Who is credited with helping design the CFPB. The agency was established under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 to protect consumers from common abuses in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis. It has since become one of the most politically charged financial regulators. Washington as Republicans and Democrats continue to fight over whether it should even exist.
Chopra previously, he served as deputy bureau chief and was its first student loan ombudsperson before being appointed to the Federal Trade Commission in 2018. He testified before the Senate Banking Committee earlier this year that he intended to focus on the economic impact of the pandemic that has left millions of Americans in financial shambles, especially in communities of color.
Its top priorities may also include revitalizing the CFPB’s Equitable Loans and Equal Opportunities office, which is responsible for monitoring discriminatory lending practices, according to Allyson Baker, partner of Venable LLP. The division has gone dormant in recent years, Baker said.
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