CFPB to BCFP: A Change that Could Cost Millions of Dollars

If the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) changes its name to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP), it could end up costing businesses $300 million, according to an internal agency analysis leaked to The Hill.

Under Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act, the federal agency is referred to as the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, although the law does make one reference to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Title III.

Since the agency’s inception, it has been largely referred to as the CFPB until March, when the agency unveiled a new seal calling it the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. In April, Acting Director Mick Mulvaney began referring to the agency as the BCFP as well.

“We changed the name because it’s the name in the statute,” said Mulvaney. “And if … your whole theme is going to be, ‘we’re going to follow the statute,’ I thought it was a good, small way – but a very visible way – to send a message.”

In an internal analysis, the agency found that a name change could cost hundreds of financial firms about $300 million “to update internal databases, regulatory filings and disclosure forms with the new name in order to comply with those rules.”

The name change could also cost the CFPB between $9 million and $19 million to update “internal materials and its website.”

The rebranding is expected to take years to fully implement, and it is unclear for now whether Kathy Kraninger, the new head of the CFPB, will continue to move forward with Mulvaney’s plan.