I am pleased to introduce my new colleague Bo Ranney to our blog readers.  Bo joins Ballard Spahr’s Consumer Financial Services Group after having spent three years at the CFPB.  I expect Bo to be a valuable resource to our clients, particularly in preparing for CFPB exams and in dealing with CFPB examiners during the course of an ongoing exam.

Bo joined the CFPB’s Office of Supervision in October 2011.  Although based in Supervision, Bo also had opportunities during his tenure with the CFPB to work on matters for the CFPB’s Office of Enforcement and Research, Markets, and Regulations (RMR) Division.

While in Supervision, Bo was involved in numerous compliance examinations of bank and nonbank institutions and led exam teams as the examiner-in-charge.  In conducting the exams, Bo reviewed an institution’s consumer files and internal documents to ensure compliance with federal consumer financial protection laws.  He also regularly met with senior management at financial institutions to discuss alleged violations discovered during an exam and collaborated with CFPB Supervision Policy and Enforcement staff regarding how the Bureau should address such violations, including whether they should be identified as a matter requiring attention (MRA) in the exam report or considered for a public enforcement action.

As part of his work in Enforcement, Bo played a key role on the team that filed the CFPB’s first application for a temporary restraining order in a matter that involved a law firm that allegedly engaged in unlawful mortgage modification practices.  He also worked on cases involving alleged violations of the Consumer Financial Protection Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule.  While in RMR, Bo worked across multiple Bureau Divisions to help produce small entity compliance guides addressing the Bureau’s new mortgage rules and related web content.

On December 9, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM ET, Bo will be sharing insights from his tenure at the CFPB in a webinar, “Everything You Want To Know About CFPB Exams but Have Been Afraid To Ask: An Insider’s Perspective.”  A link to register is available here.