Steven Antonakes, who resigned last month from his position as the deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has found his next role, and it’s one in which he should be able to utilize his experience and expertise.
Antonakes, who was also the associate director for supervision, enforcement, and fair lending at the CFPB, will now serve as senior vice president and chief compliance officer at Eastern Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Boston.
When Antonakes resigned from the second-in-command position at the CFPB, he told his former CFPB colleagues that after commuting from his home in Boston to Washington, D.C. for nearly five years, he felt it was time to return home.
Here’s a portion of the memo that Antonakes sent to the CFPB staff when he resigned:
Having commuted from Boston for nearly five years, I have logged hundreds of thousands of miles and missed entirely too many class plays, teacher conference meetings, and little league games. Accordingly, I have decided to return home to Massachusetts and pursue opportunities that will ensure that I am home for dinner with my wife and family and can assist my five children with their homework.
The CFPB named Antonakes deputy director in September 2013, and during his time with the CFPB, several speeches he gave caused deep ripples throughout the industry.
During the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2014 National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo, Antonakes raised eyebrows in a room full of mortgage servicers in the opening session by saying, "Nearly eight years have passed and I remain deeply disappointed by the lack of progress the mortgage servicing industry has made.”
Antonakes' statement received a response from David Stevens, MBA president and CEO, saying, “But this audience is the people who are doing the work. These are not CEOs of large companies; these are heads of servicing operations. They are compliance and quality control individuals coming here to make sure they are staying compliant.”
Antonakes also sparked a lot of rumors back in March 2015 after suggesting that the CFPB could delay the Integrated Disclosure deadline in a speech to the Consumer Bankers Association.
The CFPB later put out a statement saying, “We have no plans to delay the deadline on the new mortgage disclosure forms. The industry should be prepared to begin using the new forms for loans with an initial application submitted on or after Aug. 1.”
Of course, the CFPB did end up delaying TRID.
Before joining the CFPB, Antonakes served as the Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks from December 2003 to November 2010.
Earlier in his career, he served in various managerial capacities at the Division of Banks and began his regulatory career as an entry-level bank examiner in 1990.
According to Antonakes’ bio provided by Eastern Bank, in March 2007, Antonakes received NeighborWorks America’s “Government Service Award” for his work in combatting foreclosures.
In response to Antonakes' resignation, CFPB Director Richard Cordray sent the following email to the CFPB’s employees:
Steve has been an enormous asset to the Bureau, and a great friend and colleague to me since our time together in SEFL in the early days of the Bureau. His contributions to this agency have been extensive in his dual roles as Deputy Director and SEFL Associate Director, and I know many of you share my appreciation for all his work.
I have great respect for Steve’s decision to move closer to his family given my own situation with a weekly interstate commute. It is not easy to juggle work at the Bureau with family far away during the week, and Steve has done so incredibly well.
The CFPB announced late last month that Meredith Fuchs will serve as acting deputy director in Antonakes’ stead.
Fuchs announced her intention to step down as General Counsel earlier this month, she will continue to serve as general counsel and acting deputy director until a permanent replacement is selected for each position.
