1 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

JULY 18, 2011

Building the CFPB

a progress report
2 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

MISSION

The Consumer Financial Protection 

Bureau (CFPB) is a 21st century 

agency that helps consumer 

financial markets work by making 

rules more effective, by consistently 

and fairly enforcing those rules, and 

by empowering consumers to take 

more control over their economic 

lives.
3 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

MISSION

The CFPB will achieve its mission 

through:

•	data-driven analysis

•	innovative use of technology

•	valuing the best people and great

teamwork
4 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

OUR VISION

A consumer finance market place:

...where customers can see 

prices and risks up front and 

where they can easily make 

product comparisons;

...in which no one can build a 

business model around unfair, 

deceptive, or abusive practices;

...that works for American 

consumers, responsible 

providers, and the economy 

as a whole.
5 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Letter from 

Elizabeth Warren

SPECIAL ADVISOR TO THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY ON THE 

CFPB

One year ago, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which created this new Consumer Financial 

Protection Bureau (the CFPB). This law establishes a single point of accountability to 

assure that markets for consumer financial products work for American consumers and 

for responsible providers of those products. On July 21, the CFPB starts this work, and 

it will be a cop on the beat to enforce the laws on credit cards, mortgages, student loans, 

prepaid cards, and other kinds of financial products and services. The purpose of this 

report is to summarize in one place what we’ve been up to.

The consumer bureau’s statutory obligations are designed to make markets for consumer 

financial products and services work in a fair, transparent, and competitive manner. This 

means, in part, creating a level playing field where all providers of consumer financial 

products and services are subject to meaningful oversight to ensure that they play by the 

rules. It also means creating a level playing field where both parties to the transaction – 

the customer and the lender – can understand the terms of the deal, where the price and 

the risk of products are made clear, and where direct comparisons can be made from one 

product to another. 

Americans aren’t looking for a free ride. They expect to be held responsible for their 

debts and purchases. And they understand that there are consequences to not keeping up 

with payments. 

When consumers are presented with a choice between two financial products, and they 

know the true costs, the actual benefits, and the real risks of those products, they will be 

better able to make good decisions for themselves and their families. A level playing field 

encourages personal responsibility and smart decision-making.

Americans are looking for an honest marketplace. They want to know the costs up-front, 

so that they’re not blindsided by hidden fees, interest rate changes, or payment shocks. A 

properly functioning market relies on consumers’ getting the information necessary to 

make the best decision for themselves and their families. 
6 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Consumers have the power to drive markets, but only if they’re provided with the basic 

information that lets them choose products that meet their needs and reject those that do 

not.

Across the country, there are responsible financial institutions offering products and 

services that provide real value to their customers. But finding those products in a sea of 

fine print and complex terms can overwhelm even the most diligent consumers. 

If there is a lesson from the past five years, it’s this: We all lose when consumers cannot 

readily determine whether they can afford to pay back their loans. We all lose when lenders routinely sell credit in ways that hide the risks and costs. We all lose when a broken 

consumer credit system magnifies risks throughout the economy. We can do better. 

At the consumer bureau, we will do better. Over the past year, we have built a strong 

foundation, and, in the years ahead, the CFPB will work hard for consumers across the 

country. 

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Warren
7 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Introduction............................................................................................................ 8

Leveling the playing field for consumer financial products and services ....... 10

Engaging the public............................................................................................ 15

Building the organization for success ................................................................ 19

Coordination with other entities ........................................................................ 29

Commitment to accountability........................................................................... 31

Table of contents
8 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

BUILDING THE CFPB

Introduction

Beginning in 2007, the United States faced the most severe financial crisis since the Great 

Depression. Millions of Americans saw their home values drop, their savings shrink, their 

jobs eliminated, and their small businesses lose financing. Credit dried up, and countless 

consumer loans – many improperly made to begin with – went into default.

Many Americans took on loans that they did not fully understand and could not afford. 

Although some borrowers knowingly took on too much debt, many Americans who 

behaved responsibly were also lured into unaffordable loans by misleading promises of 

low payments. Honest lenders that resisted the pressure to sell complicated products had 

to compete with their less responsible competitors.

Even those who avoided the temptations of excessively risky credit were caught in its 

web. Those who never took out an unaffordable mortgage nonetheless saw the values 

of their homes plummet when neighbors lost homes in foreclosure. Those who used 

credit cards and home equity lines of credit judiciously saw across-the-board increases in 

interest rates on credit cards and contraction of outstanding lines of credit. And those 

who had saved regularly helplessly watched their retirement funds lose significant value 

and their cities and states cut back on services to make up for their own revenue losses. 

The costs of irresponsible lending were borne by tens of millions of American families.

In June 2009, President Obama proposed to address failures of consumer protection by 

establishing a new financial agency to focus directly on consumer protection. This new 

agency would heighten government accountability by consolidating in one place responsibilities that had been scattered across government. The agency would also have responsibility for supervising providers of consumer financial products and services that had not 

had regular federal oversight and for enforcing the consumer protection laws with respect 

to such providers. This agency would protect families from unfair, deceptive, and abusive 

financial practices. The President urged Congress to give the consumer agency the same 

accountability and independence that the other banking agencies have and sufficient 

funding so it could ensure that financial companies would comply with consumer laws.

In July 2010, Congress passed and President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The law – often referred to as the Dodd-Frank 

Act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFPB). Part of the purpose 

of – creating the Bureau was to increase accountability in government by consolidating 

consumer financial protection authorities that had existed across seven different federal 

agencies into one. Consumer financial protection had not been the primary focus of any 

Federal agency, and no agency had effective tools to set the rules for and oversee the 

whole market. The result was a system without effective rules or consistent enforcement. 

The results can be seen, both in the 2008 financial crisis and in its aftermath.
9 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

THE CFPB’S STATUTORY PURPOSE

To implement and enforce federal consumer financial law consistently for the 

purpose of ensuring that all consumers have access to markets for consumer 

financial products and services and that markets for consumer financial 

products and services are fair, transparent, and competitive.

THE CFPB’S STATUTORY OBJECTIVES

1. To ensure that consumers have timely and understandable information 

to make responsible decisions about financial transactions;

2. To protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or 

practices, and from discrimination;

3. To reduce outdated, unnecessary, or overly burdensome regulations;

4. To promote fair competition by enforcing the Federal consumer 

financial laws consistently; and

5. To advance markets for consumer financial products and services that 

operate transparently and efficiently to facilitate access and innovation.

Instead of important consumer protection powers being scattered across the 

federal government, now a single entity will have the oversight authority to 

make sure consumer financial markets work for all of us.
10 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Leveling the Playing Field 

for Consumer Financial 

Products and Services

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will aim to bring clarity to the marketplace. 

A fair, efficient, and transparent market depends upon consumers’ ability to compare 

the costs, benefits, and risks of different products effectively and to use that information 

to choose the product that is best for them. Fine print and overly long agreements can 

make it difficult for consumers to understand and compare products, and that obstacle 

to sound markets is not removed by disclosures that are too complicated or that do not 

focus on the key information consumers need. The principal role of consumer protection 

regulation in credit markets is to make it easy for consumers to see what they are getting 

and to compare one product with another, so that markets can function effectively.

The CFPB believes in markets – markets that make prices and risks clear and that give 

consumers the basic information they need to determine who is offering the best deal. 

One of the Bureau’s goals is to make markets for consumer financial products and 

services work in a fair, transparent, and competitive manner. That means ensuring that 

consumers have access to information to help them understand the terms of the deal. 

Fair and transparent markets encourage personal responsibility and smart decision-making. When consumers are presented with a clearer choice between two financial products 

and they can easily know the costs, benefits, and risks of those products, they will be 

better able to make decisions that work for themselves and for their families.

HOW THE CFPB HAS ALREADY BEGUN TO HELP CONSUMERS

The Bureau already has been hard at work attempting to make clarity a reality. Early 

efforts have focused on mortgages and credit cards, but those are not the only areas in 

which the Bureau has made progress.

KNOW BEFORE YOU OWE: SIMPLIFYING MORTGAGE DISCLOSURE 

FORMS

In Professor Elizabeth Warren’s first week on the job, the Treasury Department 

sponsored a symposium that brought together lenders and consumer advocates to 

discuss how to simplify federal mortgage disclosures. Consumer groups explained that 

many consumers didn’t use current disclosures to assess costs or to compare alternatives 

because the forms are complicated and hard to use. The forms came under even more 

intense criticism from those who have to fill them out. Mortgage originators, particularly 

community banks and credit unions that work closely with their customers, described 

paperwork that was costly to complete and produced little value for borrowers.

In May, the CFPB launched the Know Before You Owe project, an effort to combine 

two federally required mortgage disclosures into a single, simpler form that makes the 

costs and risks of the loan clear and allows consumers to comparison shop for the best 
11 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

offer. The CFPB began testing two alternate prototype forms that are designed to be 

given to consumers who have just applied for a mortgage loan. This testing – which will 

continue in the coming months and involve one-on-one interviews with consumers, 

lenders, and brokers – will precede and inform the CFPB’s formal rulemaking process. 

The CFPB also has posted the prototypes on its website with an interactive tool to gather 

public input about the designs.

The Bureau expects to conduct five rounds of evaluation and revision through 

September 2011 to select a single draft disclosure and then refine it. Initial rounds of 

testing will include both English- and Spanish-language versions. Interviews will be 

conducted in six cities: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Baltimore, Maryland; Birmingham, 

Alabama; Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; and Springfield, Massachusetts. In 

addition to this qualitative testing, the Bureau is soliciting online feedback from consumers and market participants and reaching out to consumer and industry groups to gather 

input, particularly regarding implementation and usability.

The testing and public feedback process will enable the CFPB to revise the design and 

refine the content based on how it works for consumers. Two rounds of feedback and 

revision have occurred so far. In the first round, the Bureau received 13,096 comments 

on the two initial versions of the new disclosure form.

This summer, in addition to testing the draft forms, the CFPB will conduct additional 

analysis and research. The Bureau will also consider underlying regulatory issues and 

ways to refine closing-stage forms, a process that will likely extend into the fall and early 

next year. The Bureau is required by the Dodd-Frank Act to issue proposed forms and 

implementing regulations by July 2012 for formal notice and comment. The CFPB also 

expects to conduct quantitative tests prior to finalizing the form.

Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions most Americans will ever 

make. The Know Before You Owe project is about giving consumers upfront, 

These heatmaps show 

which parts of the form 

users left comments on.
12 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

easy-to-understand information that helps them compare different mortgage offers and 

find the one that’s best for them. The current forms can be complicated and difficult for 

consumers to use. They are also redundant and can be costly for lenders to fill out. With 

a clear, simple form, consumers will be in a better position to answer two basic questions: 

Can I afford this mortgage, and can I get a better deal somewhere else?

TRANSPARENCY IN CREDIT CARDS

Credit cards are the most commonly used form of consumer credit. Almost two out of 

three families now have at least one credit card, and almost half of all families with credit 

cards carry a balance. Millions of borrowers use credit cards to pay for medical expenses, 

to cover educational costs, to tide them over during a period of unemployment, to cover 

emergency expenses, or simply to make it to the end of the month.

In February, the consumer bureau held a conference on the first anniversary of when 

many provisions of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act 

– the CARD Act – took effect. When that Act was signed into law in May 2009, it was 

clear that the credit card market was in need of serious reform. Congress concluded that 

certain practices in the credit card industry were neither fair nor transparent to consumers, and the CARD Act passed with strong bipartisan support in both the House and 

the Senate. The CFPB’s conference brought together industry representatives, consumer 

groups, academics, government experts, and others for a review of data on how the 

CARD Act, coupled with the recession and its aftermath, have affected supply, demand, 

and pricing within the credit card marketplace. The CFPB undertook a voluntary survey 

of the nine largest card issuers, representing approximately 90 percent of the market, 

and other studies also were conducted in connection with the conference. The studies revealed that late fees, interest rate hikes, and over-limit fees had been significantly 

curtailed since the CARD Act took effect. Significantly, the total amount consumers are 

paying for their credit cards is no higher, on average, than it was one, two, or three years 

ago, but the pricing is clearer and more up-front.

The CARD Act has pushed in the right direction. It has brought about significant 

reforms in both the pricing practices of card issuers and the information provided to 

consumers. Even so, there are a lot of moving parts in a credit card price, and there is still 

room for improvement in the transparency of this market. The Bureau’s next challenge 

will be to further clarify price and risk and make it easier for consumers to make direct 

product comparisons.

As part of the CFPB’s commitment to transparency, the raw data from the survey results 

were made public.

REPORT ON USING REMITTANCE HISTORY FOR CREDIT SCORES AND 

REMITTANCE EXCHANGE RATES

Each year, U.S. consumers send tens of billions of dollars to family members, friends, 

and other recipients abroad. For both the U.S. senders and the foreign recipients, these 

transfers can be significant. The Dodd-Frank Act has defined many of these transfers 

as “remittance transfers” and requires the CFPB to prepare a report1 regarding how a 

consumer’s remittance history could be used to enhance her credit score, the impediments to using a consumer’s remittance history in this way, and recommendations on how 

to achieve greater transparency and disclosure to consumers of exchange rates used for 

remittance transfers.

1 Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 

Section 1073(e).
13 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

The report, to be released by July 21, is based on the CFPB’s review of existing data and 

research, and interviews of market participants, researchers, and other industry experts. 

The Bureau plans to supplement the report with additional data and analysis in the future

REPORT ON CREDIT SCORES

The Dodd-Frank Act also requires the CFPB to conduct a study and submit a report 

to Congress on variations among the credit scores sold to creditors and consumers by 

certain consumer reporting agencies.2 Congress also directed the Bureau to address 

whether those variations disadvantage consumers. The report, to be released by July 21, 

will be supplemented by additional data and analysis in the future.

LARGER PARTICIPANTS AND NONBANK SUPERVISION

The Dodd-Frank Act charged the CFPB with ensuring that both banks and nonbanks 

comply with federal consumer financial laws. Historically, depository institutions like 

banks, thrifts, and credit unions have been subject to examinations by federal regulators, 

but other types of companies providing consumer financial services generally have not. 

Today, there are thousands of such nonbank companies, and these nonbanks constitute a 

significant portion of the consumer financial marketplace.

The CFPB will be able to examine companies that have never been subject to federal 

oversight to ensure that no one is gaining an unfair advantage by breaking the law. This 

will ultimately create more fair competition and more transparent markets for consumers.

The Dodd-Frank Act authorizes the CFPB to examine all sizes of nonbank mortgage 

companies, payday lenders, and private education lenders. However, the CFPB generally 

can supervise only “larger participants” in other markets for consumer financial products 

or services, and the CFPB must define such larger participants by rule before it can begin 

its nonbank supervision program in these other markets. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the 

CFPB must issue an initial “larger participant” rule no later than July 21, 2012.3

To prepare for this key element of the agency’s nonbank supervision program, the CFPB 

last month issued a Notice and Request for Comment seeking public input on issues 

relevant to defining who is a “larger participant” in certain consumer financial markets. 

The larger participant rule will not impose substantive consumer protection requirements. 

Instead, the rule will enable the CFPB to begin a supervision program for larger

participants in certain markets.

The Notice identified six markets for potential inclusion in an initial rule: 

• debt collection

• consumer reporting

• consumer credit and related activities

• money transmitting, check cashing, and related activities

• prepaid cards

• debt relief services

2 Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 

Section 1078(b).

3 Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 

Section 1024(a)(2).
14 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

OTHER PENDING ACTIVITIES REQUIRED BY CONGRESS

The CFPB is actively engaged in a wide variety of work to fulfill requirements set by 

Congress in the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act

The Dodd-Frank Act amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require that financial 

institutions collect and report information concerning credit applications made by 

women- or minority-owned businesses and by small businesses.4 Earlier this year, CFPB 

General Counsel Leonard Kennedy released guidance to financial institutions that their 

obligations do not take effect until the Bureau issues necessary implementing regulations.

The data collection requirement is an important tool that will significantly bolster both 

fair lending oversight and a broader understanding of the credit needs of small businesses. The CFPB is working to achieve Congress’s objectives of producing reliable and 

consistent data that can be analyzed by the Bureau, other government agencies, and members of the public to facilitate enforcement of fair lending laws and to identify business 

and community development needs and opportunities. As part of that effort, the Bureau 

is gathering input from stakeholders.

List of enforceable regulations 

The Dodd-Frank Act required the Bureau to consult with “transferor agencies” about 

the rules and orders that will be enforced by the Bureau and to publish by the designated 

transfer date a list of such rules.5 In May, the Bureau published a draft list for public 

comment. The final list will be published in the Federal Register by July 21.

Training and workforce development plans

The Dodd-Frank Act required the CFPB to prepare a report on three plans pertaining to 

the Bureau’s staff: a training and workforce development plan, including identification of 

skill and technical expertise needs, steps taken to foster innovation and creativity, and a 

leadership development and succession plan; a workplace flexibilities plan, covering items 

such as telework, flexible work schedules, and parental leave benefits; and a recruitment 

and retention plan that includes provisions on targeting highly qualified applicant pools 

with diverse backgrounds, streamlined application processes, and the collection of information to measure indicators of hiring effectiveness.6

 The report, to be released by July 

21, provides overarching information on the vision for the CFPB, the unique “start-up” 

context of the Bureau, the challenges faced, and the current make-up of the CFPB’s staff. 

4 Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 

Section 1071.

6 Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 

Section 1067(b).

5 Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 

Section 1063(i).
15 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Engaging the Public

OUTREACH

One of the CFPB’s top priorities is to communicate substantively and frequently across a 

wide range of industry and consumer group sectors. The Bureau aims to actively engage 

all stakeholders that could potentially be affected by the agency, with the understanding 

that there is much insight to be gained from varied perspectives that represent many 

distinct points of view.

Elizabeth Warren and agency staff have traveled across the country to listen to and learn 

from the hopes, fears, and concerns of industry and consumer groups. As a result, the 

CFPB has collected ample information about how the Bureau’s work will affect various 

stakeholders, and suggestions from stakeholders have informed preparations in setting up 

the agency.

COMMUNITY BANKS AND CREDIT UNIONS

Shortly after joining the CFPB, Elizabeth Warren set a goal for the new consumer bureau: 

to reach out to small, independent bankers from all 50 states before July 21st. By April, 

she had reached her goal of speaking to bankers from every state. She continues to visit 

with small, independent bankers regularly during her travels.

Warren has delivered speeches at the Independent Community Bankers of America 

National Convention, the Credit Union National Association Governmental Affairs 

Conference, and, in her first address on the job, at the National Association of Federal 

Credit Unions Congressional Caucus.

Pushpins on a map (left) tracked Elizabeth Warren’s progress speaking with 

community bankers from all 50 states. Warren discusses the CFPB’s work at 

a roundtable with community bankers in San Diego in March (top right and 

bottom right).
16 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

A CFPB team, headed by former community banker Elizabeth Vale, has been dedicated 

to outreach to small financial service providers.

TRADE ASSOCIATIONS AND BANK EXECUTIVES

Warren and CFPB staff have frequently met with banking executives and trade associations that represent both depository and non-depository institutions. The agency has 

spoken directly to many of the major trade organizations representing firms likely to be 

affected by the Bureau’s work.

Warren has delivered speeches to the Financial Services Roundtable and at the U.S. 

Chamber of Commerce Fifth Annual Capital Markets Summit.

SERVICEMEMBERS AND MILITARY FAMILIES

In January, the CFPB made one of its very first key hires when it announced the selection 

of Holly Petraeus to establish its Office of Servicemember Affairs. Petraeus understands 

– from both her personal experience as a military spouse and her work at the Better 

Business Bureau Military Line – that men and women in our armed forces encounter 

unique financial issues.

In January, Petraeus and Warren visited Joint Base San Antonio, Texas – where two of 

Warren’s brothers took basic training – to speak with servicemembers and financial 

counselors about the unique financial circumstances and challenges that exist in military 

communities. In April, Petraeus and Warren traveled to Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall 

in Virginia to meet with servicemembers and their families. 

Petraeus has visited many other military bases as well, talking about the financial challenges facing American men and women in uniform. She was the first CFPB staffer to 

testify before Congress when she appeared before the House Committee on Veterans 

Affairs and has also testified before a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

CONSUMERS AND CONSUMER ADVOCATES

Warren has met with more than 200 consumer, civil rights, and community-based organizations across the country. These groups have accumulated significant expertise in the 

Holly Petraeus (left) and Elizabeth Warren (right) speak with servicemembers in 

April at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia.
17 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

consumer financial sector through community-focused studies and research, through 

direct work with consumers who have been affected by financial products and services, 

and by collaborating with state legislatures that are often the laboratories for innovative 

approaches to consumer financial protection.

Warren and the CFPB staff have visited some of the communities that have been 

hardest-hit by financial problems. Among the visits: Warren sat in on foreclosure court 

in Miami, met with victims of predatory lending in San Antonio and the Mission District 

of San Francisco, and held a roundtable in Columbus, Ohio. She also listened to the 

concerns of consumer advocates in Little Rock, Arkansas; Chicago; and the Anacostia 

community of Washington, D.C.

Warren has delivered speeches at Consumers Union’s 75th Anniversary Celebration and 

to the Consumer Federation of America. She has also convened numerous roundtables 

and other meetings in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere with consumer advocates.

The CFPB staff will build on these efforts with listening tours and other meetings with 

key stakeholders at the Bureau’s Washington, D.C., headquarters and beyond. 

THE FAITH COMMUNITY

The Bureau has been interested in hearing from religious leaders about what they are 

seeing on the ground – what financial issues their congregations are confronting and 

what people of faith are doing to help. Faith leaders often have been the first responders 

as their parishioners and communities have been affected by harmful consumer financial 

practices. Many faith leaders provide financial counseling and moral guidance, and often 

speak out against destructive lending practices.

Warren and CFPB staff have met numerous times with faith leaders of many denominations throughout the country. These meetings include a roundtable with faith groups in 

Washington, D.C., in November, an April session in Dallas with the Texas Faith for Fair 

Lending coalition, a faith roundtable at the White House in February; a community briefing in February at Chicago’s Lakeview Lutheran Church; and a meeting with Industrial 

Areas Foundation leaders at St. John’s Church in Washington, D.C., in May.

OTHER OUTREACH

The CFPB’s senior staffers have participated in hundreds of meetings, phone calls, and 

speaking engagements with stakeholders. The list above is not exhaustive; our outreach 

efforts have also brought the Bureau valuable insights from student organizations, 

advocates for older Americans, small businesses, civil rights groups, and representatives 

for depository and non-depository financial services providers.

A DIGITAL PRESENCE

As the first 21st-century consumer protection agency for the country, the CFPB is 

reaching out to the public using 21st-century tools. This effort began with the launch of a 

website, ConsumerFinance.gov, months ahead of the transfer date. Coinciding with the 

debut of the website was the CFPB’s “Open for Suggestions” campaign, soliciting input 

from the public through multiple outlets. The CFPB received hundreds of suggestions, 

and posted video responses to many on its YouTube channel.

The Office of Engagement maintains a blog to keep anyone who’s interested apprised .
18 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

of the Bureau’s work. To date, there are nearly 60 posts on the blog. The CFPB also has 

its own Facebook page, Twitter stream, and Flickr channel, in addition to the YouTube 

channel.

ConsumerFinance.gov has grown over time, adding an easy-to-use Jobs page in April in 

order to recruit qualified candidates for employment at the CFPB. This Jobs page also 

includes a tool for CFPB staff to update and maintain this content, providing an efficient 

channel to post open positions and attract top talent.

CONSUMER RESPONSE

The Dodd-Frank Act directs the CFPB to facilitate the collection and monitoring of 

and response to consumer complaints regarding certain financial products and services.7

These complaints and consumers’ inquiries will help the CFPB identify areas of concern 

and help CFPB in its supervision and other responsibilities.

The Bureau is implementing the consumer response function gradually through a phased 

roll-out of functionality. The CFPB aims to build an efficient and effective consumer 

response system that is useful to American consumers, minimizes burden on financial 

institutions, and leverages the best of technology. A phased roll-out will enable proper 

consideration of the needs of consumers, the requirements of financial institutions, and 

the relevant operational constraints. In the initial phase, the CFPB will focus on taking 

complaints for credit cards, with other products to follow. 

In anticipation that many distressed homeowners will contact the CFPB soon after the 

Consumer Response function begins, the Bureau has designed a process to connect these 

homeowners with a housing counselor via the Homeowner’s HOPETM Hotline, a housing 

counseling hotline funded by the Treasury.

The CFPB is coordinating its approach with other regulators to prevent any gaps for 

consumers during this transition of responsibilities. As the CFPB rolls out its full 

functionality, it plans to route or refer incoming complaints for other products to the 

prudential regulators or other appropriate agencies.

The consumer agency is investing in a 21st-century IT infrastructure to ensure that its 

consumer response function is accessible, easy to use, and secure. To ensure broad access, 

the CFPB will provide a variety of contact channels, including the Internet, mail, fax, and 

a toll-free telephone number with English and Spanish language capabilities. For consumers, the Bureau is creating an integrated web and phone system to file and track complaints. The CFPB’s website and call center will also provide answers to frequently asked 

questions regarding financial products. For credit card complaints, the consumer agency 

is creating a web-based system that allows card issuers to log on, view, and respond to 

complaints online. Eventually, this system is expected to be used by providers of other 

financial products. 

The Bureau has engaged and will continue to engage a broad range of stakeholders – 

including community banks, consumer advocates, industry groups, and others – to gather 

input on the complaint handling process. The CFPB has presented its complaint intake 

process and complaint handling system to the largest credit card issuers. The Bureau will 

be holding ongoing discussions with them regarding improvements to the system. 

7 Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 

Sections 1013(b)(3) and 1034.
19 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Building the Organization 

for Success

One of the Bureau’s top priorities since last September has been to develop an organizational design that will provide the infrastructure the Bureau will need to meet its 

responsibilities in the months and years ahead. Late last year, the CFPB began providing 

its draft organizational chart to Members of Congress and the media. In early February 

2011, the Bureau posted the chart to our newly launched CFPB website. In developing 

the CFPB’s organizational structure, the Bureau has asked for comments and critiques 

from stakeholders across the spectrum.

THE SIX DIVISIONS

The CFPB organizational chart currently includes six primary divisions:

CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT AND EDUCATION

This division provides, through a variety of initiatives and methods, information to 

consumers that will allow them to make the decisions that are best for them. Consumer 

education is a central mission of the Bureau. The Bureau is also developing targeted 

outreach to groups that face particular challenges, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. 

The division includes the following CFPB offices:

Community Affairs

This office conducts outreach to consumer groups, civil rights groups, community organizations, and other organizations focused on traditionally underserved 

consumers and communities.8

Consumer Engagement

This office works to create an engaging experience for people interacting with 

the Bureau about the financial services marketplace by developing platforms for 

participatory government and open, responsive communication channels.

Financial Education

This office is a resource for consumers who are looking to better understand 

how to make decisions in the financial services marketplace, and it provides 

access to tools and information that can help consumers make financial choices.9 9

 The Office of Financial Education 

is mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, 

Public Law 111-203, Section 1013(d).

8

 The Office of Community Affairs is 

mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, 

Public Law 111-203, Section 1013(b)(2).
20 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Older Americans

This office helps prevent financial abuse of seniors, promotes consumer 

education and consumer protection efforts, and develops initiatives to ensure 

appropriate tools are available to guide financial decision-making for Americans 

62 and over.10

Servicemember Affairs

The Office of Servicemember Affairs will work in partnership with the 

Department of Defense to help ensure that military families receive the financial 

education they need to make the best financial decisions for them; to monitor 

complaints from military families, and responses to those complaints; and 

to coordinate the efforts of federal and state agencies to improve consumer 

financial protection measures for military families.11

Students

This office assesses and develops policy and educational solutions to address and 

prevent consumer financial protection issues of students.12

SUPERVISION, FAIR LENDING, AND ENFORCEMENT

This division ensures compliance with federal consumer financial laws by supervising 

market participants and bringing enforcement actions when appropriate. The division 

includes the following offices:

Bank Supervision

This office, which is tightly coordinated with the Nonbank Supervision office, 

conducts examinations of the largest and most complex banks, thrifts, and credit 

unions in the country, as well as other depository institutions under the CFPB’s 

jurisdiction.

Enforcement

This office will initiate investigations and enforcement actions, where 

appropriate, to ensure that providers of consumer financial products and 

services are complying with the law, and that such providers are held accountable 

when they fail to do so.

Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity

This office is responsible for providing oversight and enforcement of fair 

lending laws to make certain that credit decisions are not based on race or any 

other prohibited factor. The office also engages in fair lending outreach and 

education.13

11 The Office of Servicemember Affairs 

is mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, 

Public Law 111-203, Section 1013(e).

13 The Office of Fair Lending and 

Equal Opportunity is mandated by the 

Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 

Section 1013(c).

10 The Office of Financial Protection for 

Older Americans is mandated by the 

Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 

Section 1013(g).

12 The Office of Students will include the 

Private Education Loan Ombudsman 

function mandated by the Dodd-Frank 

Act, Public Law 111-203, Section 1035(a).

.
21 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Nonbank Supervision

This office is responsible for conducting examinations of different types of 

nonbank consumer financial services companies, including nonbank affiliates of 

large depository institutions.

RESEARCH, MARKETS, AND REGULATIONS

This division is responsible for understanding consumer financial markets and consumer 

behavior and for evaluating whether there is a need for regulation and the costs and 

benefits of potential or existing regulations. Before the Bureau acts, it will seek to be fully 

informed. The offices within this division are staffed with professionals selected for their 

strong analytic skills and subject matter expertise. This division includes the following 

offices: 

Market teams

The five market teams – Card and Prepaid; Credit Information; Deposit and 

Payment; Installment Lending; and Mortgage and Home Equity – provide realtime market intelligence, guidance, and analysis of their respective consumer 

markets.

Regulations

This office works to ensure that rulemaking is conducted in an informed, fair, 

and efficient manner in accordance with the law.

Research

This office conducts research and rigorous policy evaluations and publishes 

findings on a variety of topics to support the Bureau’s evidence-based 

policymaking and to develop a deeper understanding of consumer financial 

markets and household finances.

THE OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL

This division is responsible for the Bureau’s compliance with all applicable laws and 

provides advice to the Director and the Bureau’s divisions.

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

This division ensures that the Bureau maintains robust dialogue with various stakeholders 

that have an interest in its work in order to promote understanding, transparency, and 

accountability. The division includes the following offices: 

Community Banks and Credit Unions

This office conducts outreach to smaller credit providers, especially community 

banks and credit unions.
22 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Consumer Advisory Board

This office, required by statute,14 advises and consults with the Bureau in the 

exercise of its functions and provides information on emerging practices in the 

consumer financial products or services industry, including regional trends and 

concerns.

Intergovernmental Affairs

This office conducts outreach to municipal, state, and other government entities 

with coinciding concerns or initiatives.

Legislative Affairs

This office serves a liaison function with the Members of Congress and congressional staff, providing timely information on the Bureau’s activities and responding to inquiries and concerns.

Media Relations

This office serves a liaison function with the media.

Ombudsman

As required by statute,15 this office focuses on problem resolution between the 

CFPB and regulated entities or other third parties.

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

This division builds and sustains the CFPB’s operational infrastructure to support the 

entire organization and includes the following offices: 

Chief Financial Officer

This office manages the CFPB’s planning and budgeting.

Chief Information Officer

This office directs information technology program development and oversees 

the development of IT operating procedures.

Chief Technology Officer

This office identifies innovative technology solutions to increase the efficiency 

and effectiveness of the Bureau’s work.

15 The Ombudsman is mandated by the 

Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 

Section 1013(a)(5).

14 The Consumer Advisory Board is 

mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, 

Public Law 111-203, Section 1014.
23 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Consumer Response

This office receives complaints and helps consumers find answers for questions 

about consumer financial products and services.

Human Capital

This office recruits and hires personnel and institutes policies and practices 

designed to engage and retain staff.

Inclusion

This office, required by statute,16 is responsible for all matters of the agency 

relating to diversity, including in its senior management, employment, and 

business activities.

Operations and Facilities

This office oversees CFPB’s temporary facilities arrangements and the transition 

to the Bureau’s permanent space at 1700 G Street, N.W., in Washington D.C.

Procurement

This office oversees the Bureau’s contracts with outside contractors and service 

providers.

Records and Privacy

This office is responsible for the Bureau’s records and privacy policies, including 

its compliance with the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act.

16 Dodd-Frank Act, Public Law 111-203, 

Section 342.
24 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

THE CFPB TEAM

The CFPB team currently consists of more than 400 members. The graph below illustrates how the Bureau’s headcount is growing quickly.

The leadership of the CFPB is diverse, with people coming from a variety of backgrounds – public and private, banking and non-banking, large institutions and small 

institutions, academic and non-profit. The expertise and diversity represented by the 

CFPB’s leadership team is extraordinary. There is no single point of view that dominates 

this group, other than a shared vision to make consumer financial markets work better for 

all Americans. The leadership team includes the following individuals:

• Steve Antonakes, the former Commissioner of Banks in Massachusetts, serves 

as Assistant Director for Large Bank Supervision. 

• Leonard Chanin, the former Deputy Director of the Federal Reserve Board’s 

Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, serves as Assistant Director for 

Regulations. 

• Richard Cordray, the former Attorney General of Ohio and previously the 

Ohio Treasurer, serves as Assistant Director for Enforcement.

• Raj Date, who worked in consumer finance and banking for more than a decade 

and was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank Securities, serves as Associate 

Director of Research, Markets, and Regulations.

• Patrice Ficklin, who has practiced law at the law firm Relman, Dane & Colfax 
25 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

and has provided fair lending, fair housing, and other consumer law advice 

regarding mortgage products, pricing, and servicing while working at Fannie 

Mae, serves as Assistant Director for Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity.

• David Forrest, who spent 16 years helping develop the Motley Fool, a multimedia financial-services company that promotes investor education, serves as 

Chief Technology Officer.

• Meredith Fuchs, who worked in the U.S. House of Representatives as Chief 

Investigative Counsel of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, serves as 

Principal Deputy General Counsel.

• Roberto Gonzalez, who served in the Office of White House Counsel, serves 

as Deputy General Counsel.

• Michael Gordon, who was Counselor to the General Counsel in the Treasury 

Department, serves as Deputy General Counsel.

• David Gragan, formerly Chief Procurement Officer for the District of 

Columbia, serves as Assistant Director of Procurement.

• Gail Hillebrand, who joined Consumers Union in 1985 and was a Senior 

Attorney there, serves as Associate Director of Consumer Education and 

Engagement.

• Len Kennedy, former General Counsel of Sprint Nextel and long-time regulatory attorney, serves as the CFPB’s General Counsel.

• Zixta Martinez, an expert on housing policy who last worked at Freddie Mac, 

serves as Assistant Director of Community Affairs to work with consumer, civil 

rights, and other organizations.

• Patricia McCoy, a scholar on the housing market and chaired professor at the 

University of Connecticut who has served as Director of its Insurance Law 

Center, serves as Assistant Director for Mortgage and Home Equity Markets.

• Holly Petraeus, a top financial educator for military families, leads the Bureau’s 

Office of Servicemember Affairs as Assistant Director.

• David Silberman, who built a successful affinity credit card business and then 

served as a banking consultant, serves as Assistant Director for Card and 

Prepaid Markets.

• Dennis Slagter, formerly Director of Human Resources at the Millennium 

Challenge Corporation and Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Assistant 

Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), serves as Assistant 

Director for Human Capital.

• Corey Stone, formerly a Chairman of the Board of a community bank and 

CEO of an alternative credit reporting business, serves as Assistant Director 

for Credit Information Markets.

• Peggy Twohig, formerly Associate Director of the Division of Financial 
26 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Practices at the Federal Trade Commission, serves as Assistant Director for 

Non-Bank Supervision.

• Elizabeth Vale, who started her career with 16 years in community banking 

and later served as a managing director at Morgan Stanley, leads the Office of 

Community Banks and Credit Unions as Assistant Director.

• Catherine West, a former President of the credit card business at Capital One, 

serves as Chief Operating Officer of the CFPB.

A 21ST-CENTURY TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE

The CFPB deployed a hybrid cloud-based infrastructure in March 2011 to provide the 

foundation for all the Bureau’s systems. This hybrid infrastructure leverages several commercial providers to balance risk and cost and is consistent with White House guidance 

on cloud computing. The CFPB infrastructure includes a private cloud to house the 

CFPB systems and data in a secure environment, a public hosting environment for web 

content, and a facility to accept cloud-based software into the CFPB environment, while 

observing all federal security standards and protocols, and remaining consistent with 

industry best practices.

The CFPB has also heavily leveraged the capabilities of the Treasury Department for 

facilities, network, and desktop computing infrastructure, and other services like security 

monitoring, to ensure a productive work environment on “day one” with minimal risk. 

While these services will migrate to the CFPB over time, we expect a continued partnership operationally as the CFPB grows and scales up.

BUDGET AND FUNDING

Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB is funded principally by transfers from the Board 

of Governors of the Federal Reserve System up to a limit set forth in the statute. The 

CFPB can request funds from the Federal Reserve that are reasonably necessary to carry 

out its consumer financial protection functions, but the CFPB’s funding from the Federal 

Reserve is capped at a pre-set percentage of the total 2009 operating expenses of the 

Federal Reserve System, subject to an annual adjustment. Specifically, the Dodd-Frank 

Act places a cap on this primary source of funding for the CFPB by limiting transfers:

• in FY2011 to 10 percent of these Federal Reserve System expenses (or approximately $498 million);

• in FY2012 to 11 percent of these expenses (or approximately $547.8 million), 

and 

• in FY2013 to 12 percent of these expenses (or approximately $597.6 million).

• The cap remains at 12 percent in FY2014 and beyond but will be adjusted for 

inflation.

The Dodd-Frank Act followed long-established precedent in providing the CFPB with 

funding outside of the congressional appropriations process. Congress has consistently 

provided for independent funding for bank supervisors to allow for long-term planning 

and the execution of complex initiatives and to ensure that banks are examined regularly 

and thoroughly for both safety and soundness and compliance with the law.
27 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

The CFPB has been tasked with supervising more than twice the number of entities as all 

other federal bank supervisors combined, including supervising the largest, most complex 

banks. Effective supervision that levels the playing field between bank and non-bank 

institutions will require dedicated and predictable resources, and independent examiners. 

Moreover, consumer compliance examinations for depository institutions with less than 

$10 billion in assets will continue to be conducted by prudential regulators and thus 

funded independently. Thus, consumer compliance examinations of community banks 

and large bank and non-bank institutions will all be funded independently.

Although Congress provided the CFPB with a source of funding outside the appropriations process, the consumer bureau is nonetheless the only bank supervisor with a 

statutory cap on its primary source of funding. If the statutory cap is too low, the CFPB 

is required to seek a supplemental appropriation from Congress – unlike other banking 

regulators.

Through the first eight months of Dodd-Frank implementation, the CFPB requested 

three funding transfers from the Federal Reserve for a total of approximately $60 million. 

Of that total amount, approximately $13.1 million is allocated to personnel costs, approximately $15.4 million is allocated to technology and IT costs, approximately $10.1 million 

is allocated to mission-specific support, and approximately $14.9 million is allocated to 

human capital support. The remaining $7.0 million is allocated to general start-up costs, 

including organizational design and planning. Because these expenses capture the CFPB’s 

initial expenditure of funds, much of this budget – approximately 32 percent – is devoted 

to one-time start-up expenses.

THE CFPB’S TRANSFER CAPS IN CONTEXT

• The SEC’s budget in FY 2010 was almost three times the size of the 

CFPB’s transfer cap this fiscal year; the FDIC’s was almost ten times that 

size.

• CFPB’s funding cap this fiscal year was approximately half the OCC’s 

budget authority in FY 2010.
28 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

While it is challenging to estimate resource requirements in the first months of standing 

up an agency, the Administration has worked hard to develop budgets necessary for the 

consumer bureau to fulfill the responsibilities vested in it by Congress. The President’s 

Budget for Fiscal Year 2012 includes budget and personnel estimates for the CFPB 

for FY2011 and FY2012. Specifically, the budget estimates a $142.8 million operating 

budget for FY2011 and a $329 million operating budget for FY2012 as the CFPB works 

to phase in functions and infrastructure. These amounts are based on the approximate 

resources that will be necessary to stand up and begin executing the consumer bureau’s 

key functions.

The largest component of the CFPB’s FY2012 budget estimate is devoted to human 

capital – the people working day in and day out protecting consumers. Personnel expenditures account for a full 69 percent of the CFPB’s budget for that year, with the remainder 

dedicated to non-personnel expenditures such as rent, travel, IT systems, and other equipment and contracts.

The CFPB’s effectiveness will depend in large part upon its supervision, enforcement, 

and response center teams – the front lines of consumer protection. These teams will 

handle significant responsibility and will receive the bulk of the CFPB’s resources. 

According to estimates, nearly 70 percent of the CFPB’s staff will be on these teams.

Additionally, the Dodd-Frank Act requires the CFPB to establish a research unit. The 

CFPB has already begun to build research, markets, as well as related regulations teams, 

and expects a total of about 10 percent of the CFPB’s staff to work on these teams.
29 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Coordination with Other 

Entities

In the years ahead, the Bureau will work cooperatively with numerous other entities 

to achieve its mission as efficiently and effectively as possible. Because the CFPB is 

dedicated to engaging in partnerships that allow it to better serve the American people, 

it has entered into agreements with other federal agencies and non-government entities. 

Below are some of the Bureau’s memoranda of understanding (MOUs) that are signed 

and in effect. These MOUs will aid the Bureau in sharing information across agencies and 

organizations, and in our human capital endeavors. 

In January, the CFPB, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), and several 

initial states signed an MOU to establish a foundation of state and federal coordination and cooperation for supervision of providers of consumer financial products and 

services. State regulators and the CFPB will endeavor to promote consistent examination 

procedures and effective enforcement of state and federal consumer laws, minimize 

regulatory burden, and efficiently deploy supervisory resources. As of July 11, 2011, 39 

bank and financial services regulators from 32 states and Puerto Rico, in addition to five 

state regulator associations, have signed the MOU.

In April, the CFPB and the Presidential Initiative Working Group of the National 

Association of Attorneys General agreed on a Joint Statement of Principles, the first step 

in forging a new partnership between federal and state officials to protect consumers of 

financial products and services. State Attorneys General and the CFPB will work together 

to advance their shared goals of protecting consumers from unlawful practices, providing 

clear rules to improve the marketplace, and addressing consumer concerns efficiently and 

effectively.

In its efforts to support servicemembers and their families, the CFPB signed a Statement 

of Principles with the Judge Advocate Generals of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast 

Guard and the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Under 

this joint agreement, the parties will work together to identify potential violations of 

federal consumer financial laws, establish points of contact, share information, and create 

a formal working group.

The CFPB has entered into memoranda of understanding with the Office of Thrift 

Supervision, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the National Credit Union 

Association, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Reserve, 

and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In each of these MOUs, the parties 

agreed to share non-public information in connection with their responsibilities related to 

or affecting the establishment of the Bureau. 

The CFPB and the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) signed 

an MOU to safeguard the confidentiality of information provided by the FFIEC to the 

CFPB. 

The CFPB has signed an agreement with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network 

(FinCEN) that will permit the CFPB to access FinCEN’s Bank Secrecy Act database and 
30 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

will permit the CFPB to obtain information such as money services business registration 

data and Suspicious Activity Reports submitted to FinCEN by financial institutions. This 

information will assist in CFPB supervision and enforcement. 

The CFPB has signed MOUs for employee details with: the Board of Governors of 

the Federal Reserve System, Treasury Department’s Departmental Offices, Office of 

Thrift Supervision, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation, Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, and Department of 

Commerce. These agreements provide an arrangement for employees still employed at 

other government agencies to work at CFPB and assist in the stand-up process. 

The CFPB has signed an MOU with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System concerning the terms and conditions under which Bureau employees will participate in the Federal Reserve System’s retirement and thrift plans and the Bureau will make 

payments to those plans as required under the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB also signed 

an MOU with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on interagency 

transfers, outlining a transfer process for eligible employees who wish to transfer to 

CFPB. 

The CFPB and the North Carolina Credit Union Division signed an MOU to establish 

and enhance a cooperative relationship between the parties. This agreement states that 

both parties will preserve the confidentiality of the information they share. 

The CFPB and the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, and the Federal Trade Commission signed an MOU to provide for the 

sharing of information related to the agencies’ fair lending investigations, screening 

procedures, and investigative techniques.
31 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

Commitment to 

Accountability

The CFPB was designed to increase accountability by consolidating into a single agency 

the core consumer financial protection functions that had existed across the federal 

government. Accountability was a central policy rationale for the establishment of the 

CFPB, and it is essential that the CFPB be accountable for its efforts moving forward.

Elizabeth Warren and CFPB 

staff meet in April with open 

government organizations at 

a roundtable in Washington, 

D.C.

Warren initially came to Washington, D.C., as Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel 

on the Troubled Assets Relief Program, and this experience helped make her a firm 

believer in the importance of oversight. The CFPB has taken several concrete steps to 

strengthen this tenor of accountability and transparency:

• Warren’s calendar was posted to the Treasury Department website on 

November 24, 2010, even before launching the CFPB website. Her calendar 

has now been posted online once each month, and that practice will continue 

as a commitment to our openness. In order to make the calendars as useful as 

possible, each month’s calendar is provided in multiple formats.

• Warren has had nearly 100 one-on-one conversations with Members of 

Congress from both sides of the aisle, and CFPB staff have provided additional 

information and briefings.

• Warren has met with a variety of open government organizations, including 

Public Citizen, OpenTheGovernment.org, Citizens for Responsibility and 

Ethics in Washington, Judicial Watch, the Sunlight Foundation, the Project on 

Government Accountability, and OMB Watch. CFPB staff have had additional 

meetings and conversations with these groups.

• The CFPB has provided updates on our hiring, including listing the names 

and experience of all our senior leadership, and posted spending updates to 

provide a snapshot of how the Bureau is spending funds to provide a broader 

perspective on how it is using its resources to fulfill its mission. This includes a 

description of major financial commitments.
32 BUILDING THE CFPB, JULY 18, 2011

The CFPB is subject to substantial oversight and limitations on its activities and authorities. The CFPB is subject to the requirements and limitations of the Administrative 

Procedure Act. The Bureau is one of only three agencies anywhere in government (and 

the only banking regulator) that is required to conduct SBREFA panels, a process to 

gather input directly from small businesses about the potential impact of proposed rules. 

And the Bureau is also specifically required to consider the benefits and costs of any 

proposed rules to consumers and providers. The CFPB’s activities are subject to judicial 

review, ensuring that the CFPB operates within the constraints set by Congress and the 

U.S. Constitution.

In addition to being subject to judicial review, the CFPB is the only bank regulator whose 

rules can be overruled by a council made up of other federal agencies. In an unprecedented restriction unlike that on the authority of any other Federal financial regulator, 

Congress determined that a two-thirds majority of the banking regulators and other 

members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council can veto any rule issued by the 

consumer bureau if the council determines that it would put the safety and soundness 

of the banking system or the stability of the financial system at risk. And, of course, like 

with any federal agency, Congress can always overturn the Bureau’s rules if the legislature 

disagrees with our judgments.

Finally, the CFPB is also the only bank regulator that is expressly limited in its ability 

to determine its own funding levels. If the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency 

believes it needs more funds to hire more examiners, it can raise more through assessments on the industry. But the consumer agency’s independent funding is statutorily 

capped at a portion of the Federal Reserve System’s operating expenses. If the CFPB 

concludes that it needs additional funding, it must persuade Congress to provide that 

funding.

The CFPB understands, though, that accountability is about much more than oversight 

and legal constraints: Ultimately, it is about being responsible for getting a job done on 

behalf of American families. Those families want a market in which prices and risks are 

clear, and in which product comparisons are easy. They want to be protected from unfair, 

deceptive, abusive, or discriminatory practices. They want to be assured that all financial 

services providers are following the rules. They want to be empowered to take more 

control over their economic lives. In short, they want a consumer financial market that 

works. And, they want an agency that will be accountable for getting that job done. 

On July 21, the CFPB gets to work. It will build from groundwork already laid to improve 

disclosures for mortgages, credit cards, and other products and services so that consumers can understand the key terms and choose the best deal for themselves and their families. It will start supervising the activities of financial services providers, examining banks 

and other companies to ensure that they are following the law. It will enforce Federal 

consumer financial law against providers that violate it. And it will provide information 

and tools to consumers to help them make the financial choices that are right for them. 

In all of these activities, the CFPB will drive toward its vision of a consumer financial 

market that works for American consumers, responsible providers, and the economy as a 

whole.