As the one-year anniversary of the start of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or the “Bureau”) approaches, look for a fundamental shift in press coverage about the Bureau, as information about its initial investigations and enforcement activity becomes public. This new focus will emerge as the Bureau builds on some of its first investigations to determine whether there have been violations of federal consumer financial protection laws. These investigations and potential enforcement actions will have long-term consequences for their targets and be an important indicator of the Bureau’s approach to consumer protection in the future.

Enforcement Authority Overview

The Bureau has responsibility to enforce federal consumer financial law over nonbank entities, regardless of whether they are subject to the Bureau’s supervisory authority. Federal consumer financial laws include the Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”) enacted as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices (“UDAAP”) in connection with consumer financial products and services, as well as 18 consumer protection laws transferred to the Bureau, and several rules issued by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”).

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