Newsroom

January 31, 2013

Antonakes is CFPB deputy director

NAFCU looks forward to working with Steve Antonakes as he takes his new role of CFPB acting deputy director, association General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Carrie Hunt said Thursday.

Antonakes' appointment was announced Thursday by CFPB Director Richard Cordray. He succeeds Raj Date, who vacated the deputy director's post yesterday.

"We appreciated Steve's willingness to meet and discuss credit unions in his role as head of CFPB supervision," said Hunt. "We look forward to continuing our dialogue with him on credit union issues as he takes on this new role."

Antonakes joined the CFPB in November 2010 as the bureau's assistant director of large-bank supervision. He was named associate director for supervision, enforcement and air lending last June.

Hunt and other NAFCU representatives have maintained contact with Antonakes, Date, Cordray and others in efforts to ensure the CFPB's consumer protection rules work as intended without imposing undue, unnecessarily costly new regulatory burden for credit unions.

Date was the CFPB's first deputy director. He has also served as the bureau's special advisor to the Treasury secretary and as associate director for research, markets and regulations.

Cordray praised both individuals in Thursday's announcement. "We will be forever grateful to Deputy Director Raj Date for his tremendous work to protect American consumers," he said. "Although we will miss Raj, he has helped to build a strong, talented team, and I am pleased that Steve will be taking on the role of acting deputy director.

"Steve's knowledge, expertise, and judgment will continue to be invaluable as we move forward with our important work –making markets work for consumers and responsible businesses."