Election day is a week from today and who knows what is going to happen and how long it might take for a winner to be declared, but at least one media outlet has started speculating what might happen at the top of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau if Joe Biden wins the presidency, and there is a name that many in the industry will recognize on its shortlist of candidates. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Sign up for a free webinar analyzing the fallout of Tuesday’s election here.]
CNBC published a list of six names that could be on the shortlist of individuals who might be nominated to replace Kathleen Kraninger, saying the agency has “languished” during President Trump’s administration, “making it likely” that Biden would plan on leadership changes.
While critics have complained about the CFPB’s lack of enforcement activity since Cordray’s departure, it is worth noting that the number of enforcement actions announced by the Bureau in the third quarter was more than the previous three quarters combined.
The first name on the list was Richard Cordray, the former director of the CFPB who resigned in November 2017. After leaving the CFPB, Cordray unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Ohio, wrote a book, and has been working with the state of California to create its own state version of the CFPB.
Also on the list was Rohit Chopra, a former assistant director of the CFPB who is now a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. While he was at the CFPB Chopra was also the agency’s student loan ombudsman.
Other names put forth in the article were: Patrice Ficklin, the director of the CFPB’s Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity, Rep. Katie Porter [D-Calif.], a member of the House Financial Services Committee and former law student of Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-Mass.], who helped create the CFPB, Adam Levitin, a law professor at Georgetown University, and Bharat Ramamurti, a former economic advisor to Sen. Warren.
