![Stat of the Week: How State AGs Are Taking Over Consumer Finance Enforcement [Map]](https://compli.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Stat-of-the-Week_blog_header.jpg)
Stat of the Week: How State AGs Are Taking Over Consumer Finance Enforcement [Map]
It’s only been 8 months since Richard Cordray stepped down as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. For many of us, the “Cordray Era” of the CFPB (or the BCFP, as some have taken to calling it) feels like a distant memory. These days, the Bureau seems quieter, slower-moving, and less ambitious in terms of fair lending rulemaking and enforcement.
This is partially due to new Acting Director Mick Mulvaney’s leadership, but it’s also the result of a personnel change throughout the ranks: many staffers left the Bureau in the weeks and months following Cordray’s resignation.
What ever happened to these staunch consumer advocates?
As it turns out, they found new jobs—many in and around your state’s capitol. The American Financial Services Association reports that in Pennsylvania, for instance, “Attorney General Josh Shapiro established a mini-BCFP as part of his office and bought in four former BCFP staffers who worked under former Director Richard Cordray at the Bureau.”
That’s right: “miniature” CFPBs, BCFPs CFPCs, and everything in between are popping up in state attorneys’ general offices across the country. Take a look at the map below to see what some of these mini-Bureaus have been up to recently.
Given all this state-led activity, it’s no wonder most lenders are spending as much, if not more, on their compliance programs in the near future. Consumer protection and its advocates aren’t going away, and neither should your compliance program.
For more about the state AGs and others inheriting the CFPB’s legacy, make sure to check out our recent webinar with AFSA, Regulatory Alphabet Soup: As the CFPB evolves, who’s watching lenders now?
