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January 19, 2021

Biden to nominate new CFPB director

CFPB

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate Rohit Chopra – currently a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – to lead the CFPB.

Chopra helped launch the CFPB following the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act and served as an assistant director at the bureau, overseeing its student loan agenda, and was also appointed to serve as the bureau's student loan ombudsman. He has been at the FTC since 2018.

NAFCU works closely with the CFPB to ensure credit unions are not overly burdened by rules that are intended to stop bad actors. The bureau's Taskforce on Federal Consumer Financial Law included several of NAFCU's recommendations in its report released in January, including expanding credit union access in underserved areas, modernizing E-SIGN Act requirements, expanding the use of alternative data, and minimizing examination overlap. The CFPB and NCUA last week signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at improving examination coordination.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year determined that the bureau's single-director structure was unconstitutional, but the bureau could continue to operate so long as the director is subject to removal by the president at will. NAFCU continues to call for the bureau's leadership structure to be reformed to a bipartisan commission.