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	CFPB Director Richard Cordray discussed his appointment and plans for supervision of nonbanks in an address attended by NAFCU and carried on C-SPAN.

Jan. 6, 2012 – NAFCU Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt on Thursday attended an invitational meeting where Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said the bureau will now begin to supervise nonbank service providers that, in lead-up to the financial crisis, pushed aside providers such as credit unions and "greatly harmed consumers."

Cordray, who delivered his remarks before a Brookings Institution gathering covered on C-SPAN, said credit unions and community banks did not create the financial crisis that the Dodd-Frank Act was created to address.

The CFPB head reiterated that point at least twice during his talk before the group. "The twin promises of the Dodd-Frank Act," he said, ". . . are that the bureau will have a singular focus on protecting consumers in the financial marketplace, and that we will make sure that large banks and nonbanks are held to the same standards." Now, with a director in place, the bureau will "begin dealing face-to-face" with essentially non-supervised providers of mortgage loans, payday loans and others.

The CFPB chief also praised the work of Elizabeth Warren, who stood up the agency, and Raj Date, who has been leading the bureau in his capacity as Treasury's special advisor on the bureau. Date was namedThursday as the CFPB'sdeputy director.

The CFPB is alsoinviting consumers to "tell us your story, good or bad, about your experience with consumer financial products." It says consumers' stories will help inform the CFPB "how we work to protect consumers and create a fairer marketplace."

This isn't a consumer complaint program. And the invitation to participate was delivered by email to every person in the country who has signed up to receive CFPB communications. Credit unions can spread the news further by pointing their members to the CFPB "Tell your story" page.