Rohit Chopra said in a message to his new employees and fellow regulators yesterday that he is looking forward to shifting “market power toward consumers and law-abiding businesses” now that he has officially been sworn in as the new Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Chopra outlined his vision and mandate after taking over the reins of the CFPB from Acting Director Dave Uejio, who had run the agency on an interim basis following the resignation of Kathy Kraninger back in January. Kraninger had resigned at the request of President Joe Biden.
Chopra, 39, who was one of the first employees back when the CFPB started a decade ago and rose through the ranks to be the Bureau’s student loan ombudsman before leaving the CFPB in 2016. He worked briefly at the Department of Education and at the Consumer Federation of America before being nominated by President Donald Trump to be a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, where he worked until he was sworn in to run the CFPB.
Pointing out that this is an “extremely fragile moment for our economy and our country,” Chopra said in his memo that the pandemic has “put into clearer focus the longstanding systemic and structural barriers we must overcome to build a more inclusive economy.”
Chopra’s memo laid out his vision for the CFPB’s mandate in broad strokes, describing an agency that ensures “families are treated fairly and can seek help when they’re in trouble,” and one that can “anticipate emerging risks so we can act before a crisis, rather than acting after it is too late.”
The financial marketplace must meet “the needs of all families, workers, and communities,” Chopra said.
