States Seek Talent from the CFPB

Chris D’Angelo, the third highest ranking official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), is the latest high-profile government staffer to depart the CFPB in order to work for a state regulatory agency instead.

D’Angelo will become the chief deputy attorney general for financial justice in New York, working under Attorney General (AG) Letitia James. D’Angelo was the CFPB’s associate director of supervision, enforcement and fair lending where he oversaw about 700 staff members. D’Angelo started at the CFPB in 2011, making him one of the first staff members at the agency.

Just last year, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro recruited Nicolas Smyth to help lead the state’s newly created consumer financial protection unit. Smyth was also one of the first staff members at the CFPB.

This could be a sign that states are planning to more aggressively monitor and regulate the financial services market. Just last year, several state attorneys general (AGs) announced that they would increase their enforcement activity in financial services if they saw a decline in enforcement activity from the CFPB.

In part, the letter read, “If incoming CFPB leadership prevents the agency’s professional staff from aggressively pursuing consumer abuse and financial misconduct, we will redouble our efforts at the state level to root out such misconduct and hold those responsible to account.”

Yet despite a clear decline in enforcement activity from the CFPB in the first half of 2018, states on average saw a decline in enforcement actions as well. In fact, New York had only four enforcement actions in the first of 2018, compared to 16 in the first half of 2016 and five in the first half of 2017.