Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Reinstates Advisory Boards

On Friday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reinstated its advisory boards, including the Consumer Advisory Board, the Community Bank Advisory Council, and the Credit Union Advisory Council. The reinstatement comes several months after CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney fired all of the previous board members in June.

“Today, I am appointing experts to the Bureau’s advisory committees who will bring a fresh perspective to our important work,” said Mulvaney in a press release published last Friday. “These experts are highly talented individuals in consumer finance markets, and we look forward to working closely with them throughout their service.”

CFPB’s website describes the Consumer Advisory Board as a “source of market intelligence and expertise for us, and also advise and consult us on our work.” The newly created board has nine members, a sharp drop from the 25 members that sat on the board under former CFPB Director Richard Cordray. Interestingly, the new board does not include any members from national advocacy groups. The board’s former chairwoman, Ann Baddour, expressed disappointment “to see much less diversity in this new consumer advisory board, compared to past boards.”

Mulvaney received substantial blowback in June after he had fired all the members of the Consumer Advisory Board in response to 11 of its members criticizing Mulvaney at a news conference. Twenty-five Democrats wrote Mulvaney a strongly worded letter questioning whether his actions were motivated “by animus toward the current board members.”

CFPB has also appointed seven new members to the Community Bank Advisory Council and seven new members to the Credit Union Advisory Council.

You can find the full list of the new members here.