With its five-year anniversary quickly approaching, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray answered in a recent interview if he would do anything different looking back on things.
In an interview on CNBC's "Closing Bell," Cordray was asked, “Five years in, perhaps now having the chance to see some of the consequences of regulation, is there anything you would do differently now? Or in your view has been a particular success?”
Here is his response:
I think we’ve learned constantly along the way over the last five years, but if you put together what we’ve done over time, we have stood on the side of consumers to make sure they are treated fairly in the financial market.
We’ve gotten back $11.5 billion to consumers in enforcement actions and other work during that time. We’ve reformed the mortgage market, which blew up the economy back before the financial crisis, so that it’s a safer and better marketplace. And we’ve responded to almost a million consumer complaints, getting individual relief for people around the country and fixing problems.
The bureau, which was created on July 21, 2011, was a solution after the financial crisis to ensure that it would never happen again, designing a government entity dedicated to protecting consumers in the financial market.
However, Cordray didn’t take over as the CFPB’s first director until 2013 after serving as Ohio’s attorney general. He is currently serving a five-year term as the head of the country’s top financial regulator, with his term set to expire in 2018.
Cordray hasn’t had it easy, though, sitting at the helm of the bureau. People have continuously questioned the role of the bureau, along with Cordray’s position, since its creation, given that it has no one regulating the CFPB itself.
As far as his future after the CFPB, it could possibly be the future vice president of America.
The CNBC ended on a more light-hearted note, with a news anchor asking Cordray about rumors circulating that Hillary Clinton could possibly tap Richard Cordray as her running mate.
Cordray, letting out a chuckle and big grin, tiptoed past the question and simply answered, “Standing up for consumers is a full time job."
