Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray is scheduled for an intense grilling by U.S. Senators at a confirmation hearing on Tuesday to discuss his future as leader of the CFPB.
In prepared remarks for the Senate Banking Committee, Cordray notes the bureau has handled 130,000 complaints since its inception.
He also paints the image of a bureau that is committed to transparency, clarity in the rule-making and implementation process and in the development of new tools, such as the National Mortgage Database – a tracking tool that lets researchers follow the long-term performance of consumer credit.
“Consumers have contacted us for help resolving specific problems they have experienced with consumer financial products and services, ranging from improper charges on credit cards to mortgage payments that were wrongly applied,” Cordray said. “Many of these complaints have been referred to us by you and your colleagues.”
Cordray said the CFPB will continue to embark on ‘unprecedented efforts’ to ensure the mortgage lending and financial services communities ease into the new rules without suffering from excessive compliance and implementation burdens.
But these are just Cordray’s prepared remarks. The CFPB as a whole remains quietly under fire. Republicans who are against the bureau — or who want a different structure — feel they have ammunition with a recent court decision creating doubts about the long-term constitutionality and survivability of President Obama’s recess appointments. Cordray, himself, ended up in the CFPB’s head spot as a recess appointee, and a similar case is challenging his recess appointment.
The confirmation hearing Tuesday will give the financial services industry an indication as to whether a consensus can be reached on the floor to provide Cordray with an official Senate confirmation or whether another fight is in store for the director and the administration.
