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The CFPB is not protecting or serving consumers. Freeze it.

Washington, D.C. – Today, following the appointment of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to become acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), several directives were issued to freeze virtually all actions, rules, and pending litigation carried out by the agency. A source inside CFPB indicated the agency is essentially shut down for the time being. 

Yaël Ossowski, Deputy Director at the Consumer Choice Center, an international consumer advocacy group, reacted to the news with a note of optimism,

“The CFPB was designed to help financial consumers navigate the marketplace and punish bad actors but instead has become a tool of federal regulators seeking to delay or slow down financial innovation. It’s obstructionist and politicized.

The CFPB largely duplicated the efforts of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and added another layer of complexity to financial firms looking to innovate. CFPB has restrained credit availability and made it more difficult for consumers to get access to capital such as business loans,” said Ossowski.

Observers are the media and Congress have expressed concern about consumer welfare with the CFPB being frozen under the Trump administration. Created by Dodd-Frank and opened in 2011 as a response to the 2008 financial crisis, CFPB was launched with relative immunity to outside oversight, despite being funded by the Federal Reserve.

Ossowski added, “The CFPB has spent more time defending their existence in federal court than advancing legitimate consumer protection cases. Consumers already have a responsive FTC, SEC, and the ability to advance lawsuits at the state and local level when harm has been done.”

READ in TOWNHALL: Ossowski on how the CFPB got a pass from the Supreme Court, but it’s past its prime

According to Bloomberg Law, Bessent’s first actions were to suspend all activities including investigations and external communications out of the CFPB, subjecting them to strict review by the new administration.

“Policing fraud and deception in our financial markets is an important role in our federal system, but too many cops on the beat has led to confusion for innovators and consumers alike, all the while granting questionable constitutional authority to the CFPB.

At best, the CFPB is an agency without watchers. At its worst, it’s an unaccountable bureaucracy blocking innovation and discouraging entrepreneurship,” concluded Ossowski.


The Consumer Choice Center is an independent, nonpartisan consumer advocacy group championing the benefits of freedom of choice, innovation, and abundance in everyday life for consumers in over 100 countries. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Washington, Brussels, Ottawa, Brasilia, London, and Geneva. Find out more at www.consumerchoicecenter.org.

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