The Consumer Finance Watchdog Is Having an Impact

In the year and a half since opening its doors, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has hired more than 1,000 staffers, collected 90,000 consumer complaints, and begun supervising many of the 153 banks under its authority. The fledgling agency—a product of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul—released its most ambitious new policy on Jan. 10: a set of rules that will shape the future of mortgage lending. “They have had a monumental impact for an agency that has only really been operational for a year,” says Alan Kaplinsky, an attorney at Ballard Spahr who represents companies on matters before the bureau.

The brainchild of then-Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren, the CFPB is charged with preventing banks and other financial companies from taking advantage of consumers. Early hires reminisce about the pioneer spirit of the founding days, when Warren rallied the small staff, the office had a softball team, and colleagues often repaired to the Exchange Saloon after work.