The CFPB, the only agency created by the financial reform law called the Dodd-Frank Act, will be up and running in July. As the acting director, Warren said she's now staffing it and putting procedures in place.
Warren, a bankruptcy expert and former Harvard law professor, has been appointed by President Obama as a special advisor to the Department of Treasury, through which she oversees the consumer bureau. Critics say the Obama administration has declined to officially nominate Warren because she is unlikely to be approved by Congress, because she is a lightening rod among business leaders and Republicans.
The CPFB is “walled off by statute” from the Durbin amendmentto the Dodd-Frank law, said Warren, whose agency has been accused of imposing an agenda on that addendum. The amendment, which sets a price on "interchange fees"—the amount a bank charges a retailer every time a consumer uses a debit card for a transaction—has drawn the ire of bankers.
“What we’re working on is how to make prices clear, risks clear, how to make it easy for customers to compare one product to two or three others,” said Warren. “Ultimately, that’s what makes markets work for consumers, for businesses that offer good products and what works for our economy.”
