On April 11, 2023, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra spoke with the Washington Post regarding the banking industry after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. Director Chopra, who is also a board member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, focused his messaging on the need to better educate consumers regarding when their deposits are and are not insured by the FDIC. … Continue Reading

As we previously reported, Kathy Kraninger, President Trump’s nominee to become the next CFPB Director, testified at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee on July 19.  Following the hearing, Democrats on the committee sent her a list of questions relating to her involvement in the development of President Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy and how she would manage the Bureau.… Continue Reading

Leandra English, who was appointed CFPB Deputy Director by former Director Cordray before his November 2017 resignation, announced today that she will resign as Deputy Director early next week.  Ms. English indicated that her resignation was prompted by President Trump’s recent nomination of Kathy Kraninger to serve as CFPB Director.

Ms.… Continue Reading

On September 12, 2017, Director Cordray appeared as the keynote speaker at the Seventh Annual Ohio Land Bank Conference.  Director Cordray’s appearance came on the heels of his speech at the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic where many speculated he would announce his campaign for Ohio governor.  The Ohio Land Conference brings together governmental and corporate partners striving to re-purpose vacant and abandoned properties and revitalize struggling neighborhoods—a perfect landscape for the launch of a gubernatorial run. … Continue Reading

Ever since it was announced that Richard Cordray would be delivering a speech at the annual Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic, there was wide speculation that he would use that occasion to launch his campaign to run for governor of Ohio. Indeed, I thought that his plan would be to issue the final small-dollar lending rule last week, resign as CFPB Director this past Friday and launch his political campaign at the AFL-CIO picnic yesterday.… Continue Reading

We have previously blogged about two upcoming events that have led to speculation that Richard Cordray is about to resign as CFPB Director.  The first event is a speech he is giving in Cincinnati, Ohio at a Labor Day picnic sponsored by the AFL-CIO.  That seems like an ideal venue to launch his campaign for Governor of Ohio. … Continue Reading

On July 31, I published a blog post in which I suggested that, if Director Cordray resigns, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin would be the obvious and logical person to serve as CFPB Acting Director until President Trump nominates, and the Senate confirms, Director Cordray’s successor.  I stated that the President clearly has the authority to appoint an Acting Director under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (the “Vacancies Act”).… Continue Reading

Clients are always asking me and others in our Consumer Financial Services Group about how long Richard Cordray will remain as CFPB Director.  The short answer is nobody knows, perhaps not even Richard Cordray.  There are a number of factors, however, that lead me to believe that he will remain as Director until the end of his term on July 16, 2018 unless he voluntarily resigns before then to run for Governor of Ohio.… Continue Reading

Director Cordray’s remarks to the Clearing House yesterday should unsettle bankers and payday lenders alike. In his talk, Director Cordray challenged bankers to bow to the inevitable. He suggested that sooner, rather than later, the industry should invest the billions of dollars required to build a payment system with “faster and even real-time payments” where “the interests of consumers remain at the top of [bankers’] minds.”… Continue Reading