Kathy Kraninger

The agency has named Thomas G. Ward as the bureau’s assistant director for enforcement. House Democrats have questioned Ward's role as a political appointee in the Trump administration.

In the past, the agency cited the legal term in enforcement actions without stating what it meant, but Director Kathy Kraninger has sought to give the industry clearer guidance.

Democratic lawmakers, state attorneys general and others filed briefs with the Supreme Court rebutting claims that the agency’s leadership structure is unconstitutional.

The agency is sending a strong message that it won’t rush to end an exemption for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while also signaling longer-term changes that will affect all lenders.

Director Kathy Kraninger has told lawmakers that the agency will delay the expiration of the so-called QM patch, now set for January 2021.

The Supreme Court appointed Paul Clement to represent the agency after the bureau’s current director questioned its constitutionality.

In a letter to the agency's inspector general, the 15 lawmakers pointed to specific cases where they said the bureau departed from legal standards in deciding not to require restitution.

Former CFPB Director Richard Cordray and consumer advocates have designed a proposed state consumer agency that would subject more financial firms and fintechs to state oversight.

Todd Zywicki, a law professor who has sharply criticized the CFPB as an unaccountable bureaucracy, has been named chair of an agency task force identifying potential conflicts and inconsistencies in consumer finance law.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau faces a busy policy agenda heading into the new year, as well as strong external forces that are beyond its control.