I grew fond of the CFPB as it developed from a political bomb to a consumer watchdog. The agency gained street cred as they called out significant issues in how lenders lend and collect. Surely a visit by the CFPB was as exciting as a visit to the dentist.
The agency seems to be getting neutered. Much more bank-friendly than you would expect a regulator to be. Name changing after millions spent on branding the agency. Moreover, it seems as if they are about to take their complaint database away from public access.
- Since becoming CFPB director in November, former South Carolina Congressman Mick Mulvaney has gone out of his wayto make sure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is rendered absolutely useless when it comes to the goal of protecting consumers from predatory financial institutions.
- In December, the CFPB changed its mission statement to read that the purpose of the agency was to “help consumer finance markets work by regularly identifying and addressing outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulations.”
- And in January, he relaxed regulations on payday lenders, an industry which gave Mulvaney over $60,000while he was serving in Congress.
- Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, Mulvaney is considering revoking the public’s access to the Consumer Complaint Database, a web portal where Americans can file complaints about financial institutions.
Now, I tend to be a little more to the right than left on political issues, but here is a shocker:
“I don’t see anything in here that says I have to run a Yelp for financial services sponsored by the federal government,” Mulvaney said at the American Bankers Association conference
Well, Congressman Mulvaney, that was one of the concepts that got the agency started.
Overview by Brain Riley, Director, Credit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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