News – Page 72 – CFPB Journal

CFPB expands its complaint data base

On May 31, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau added another wave of complaint data to its complaint database, expanding the number of publicly reported complaints to 113,000.

DOJ charges debt-settlement company in first-ever criminal charge based on CFPB referral

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created as a watchdog. Not just a rulemaking and regulatory agency, it also was chartered to crack down on wrongdoing in financial markets. But, while the bureau has collected penalties from transgressing financial institutions, it never has been responsible for criminal charges.

Bureau pledges to work cooperatively with state authorities on exams

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took another step to coordinate efforts with state regulatory agencies when it signed an agreement with the Conference of State Bank Supervisors on May 21.

CFPB releases list of counties considered rural and/or underserved

On May 16, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a list of counties it considers underserved and/or rural.

Has the CFPB stepped beyond its charter?

“Our mission is to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans,” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says on its about page. A laudable goal, financial markets should work for consumers. But now the bureau has stepped past overseeing financial products, to overseeing the goods purchased with financial products.

CFPB encourages in-school branches

In its white paper on financial education released in April, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pointed to in-school branches as a way to build students’ financial literacy through hands-on learning.

CARD Act rule will make it easier for stay-at-home adults to get credit

An update to the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act, or CARD Act, will make it easier for stay-at-home moms or dads to get a credit card.

CFPB says payday loans and bank deposit advances are same product

Banks offering deposit advances or considering it, take note. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sees deposit advances as functionally equivalent to payday loans.

Exam priorities carefully determined, CFPB official says

Steven L. Antonakes, Acting Deputy Director at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, spoke to a group of bankers on Thursday, April 18 in Des Moines, Iowa. In his 45-minute presentation, he explained how the bureau decides which institutions to examine.

A third official makes a private venture out of stint at CFPB

Raj Date, the former deputy director for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who resigned from the CFPB earlier this year, has opened an advisory firm for banks focusing on consumer finance, according the American Banker.