Enforcement actions from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under its new director are likely, according to senior executives at the American Financial Services Association.
Danielle Fagre Arlowe and Celia Winslow, senior vice presidents at AFSA, said state and federal scrutiny in the automotive finance industry will sharpen under Democratic leadership. Their remarks were made during a Tuesday presentation at the organization’s virtual conference.
“The CFPB is going to pick up exactly where it left off with [former director Richard] Cordray,” Winslow said. “There’s going to be a renewed determination to get back to its roots, but possibly, [there will] be a little bit more of a focus on enforcement.”
Winslow highlighted areas of fair lending and voluntary protection products as targets for the new administration at the federal agency, which she said will have familiar faces from the Obama administration at the highest levels.
There’s been anxiety in the automotive sector that under new leadership from President Joe Biden and a Democratic majority in Congress, a larger focus will be placed on compliance than occurred during the Trump administration.
Yet collaboration is strained at the state and federal levels due to coronavirus restrictions, Winslow said. Though incoming and current members of the Biden administration may have ambitious plans to examine consumer lending, that doesn’t necessarily mean all of those directives will succeed.
“Right now, we have a united democratic government. Well, that’s united in the sense the Democrats are in charge of the White House, the Senate and the House,” Winslow said. “But the Democratic Party has its fractions just the same as the Republican Party.”
