On the same day President Obama announced the nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFPB Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury Elizabeth Warren released a progress report of the new agency’s work since its inception. CFPB was created as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in July 2010 and begins official operations July 21.
In a blog post today titled A Strong Foundation, Warren wrote:
“The consumer bureau’s statutory obligations are designed to make markets for consumer financial products and services work in a fair, transparent, and competitive manner. This means, in part, creating a level playing field where all providers of consumer financial products and services are subject to meaningful oversight to ensure that they play by the rules. It also means creating a level playing field where both parties to the transaction – the customer and the lender – can understand the terms of the deal, where the price and the risk of products are made clear, and where direct comparisons can be made from one product to another.”
CFPB budget overview according to the report:
- Total budget (first 8 months): $60 million
- Personnel: $13.1 million
- Technology/IT: $15.4 million
- Mission-specific support: $10.1 million
- Human capital support: $14.9 million
- General start-up costs (including organizational design and planning): $7 million
Approximately 32 percent of the budget was dedicated to one-time start-up expenses. CFPB projections estimate it will have 500 employees by August 2011.
