The District of Columbia Bar recently hosted a presentation on CFPB enforcement priorities. The sole speaker was Mr. Hunter Wiggins, Deputy Enforcement Director of Policy and Strategy of the CFPB’s Supervision, Enforcement & Fair Lending Division. Mr. Wiggins outlined the structure of the enforcement policy and strategy group, and offered some insight into the factors considered in directing enforcement strategy. According to Mr. Wiggins, the following seven factors are considered for prioritizing enforcement efforts: (i) the number of victims or size of harm; (ii) the duration of the harm to consumers; (iii) whether the activity targets vulnerable consumers; (iv) whether consumers have the ability to effectively shop for better products; (v) whether the activity results in any market distortions; (vi) whether there are any existing hurdles to regulatory enforcement over the activity; and (vii) whether market conditions encourage harmful activity by industry participants. Mr. Wiggins also stated that about half of his group’s efforts focus on the core enforcement areas, such as fair lending, credit cards, and mortgages. The rest of their time is focused on certain emphasized priorities, such as credit card add-on products (25% – 35% of the group’s focus), and emerging or cross-cutting priorities (10% – 15% of the group’s focus).
