White House appoints Warren to set up consumer protection bureau

President Obama appointed Elizabeth Warren advisor to Secretary of the Treasury, and she will be in charge of setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren was the chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, which oversees the Treasury’s implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and released released a review of the program this week. This new appointment terminates her chairmanship there. The CFPB was included in the Dodd-Frank Act passed in July. It was created to set clear rules for financial institutions when dealing with consumers. In mortgage finance, the new bureau will attempt to consolidate and simplify the language of federal mortgage forms. The bureau also will provide federal oversight of the non-bank companies and banks in the mortgage market. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) chairman of House Financial Servicing Committee, backed the decision to appoint Warren. “I am very pleased that the President agreed with those of us who pushed hard for Elizabeth Warren to be appointed,” Frank said. “I look forward to working with her in her new position and to making sure that American consumers get the full benefit of the law we recently passed.” According to a blog post today from Warren on the White House website, the central role of the CFPB will be to protect consumers from unfair and deceptive mortgage lending practices. “The new law creates a chance to put a tough cop on the beat and provide real accountability and oversight of the consumer credit market,” Warren said. “The time for hiding tricks and traps in the fine print is over.” Write to Jon Prior.