Civil Rights Coalition Says Warren’s Appointment to Oversee New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Is a Positive Step
Following news that President Obama will appoint Elizabeth Warren to oversee the creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as the assistant to the president and special advisor to the secretary of the Treasury, Leadership Conference Executive Vice President Nancy Zirkin said:
Elizabeth Warren’s appointment to oversee the establishment of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a clear sign that President Obama and his administration are serious about protecting consumers from the abusive and predatory Wall Street practices that brought our country to the brink of financial collapse.
In this position, Warren, a tireless advocate for consumers who conceived the idea for the bureau, will be able to mold a fair and effective agency that will close the Wall Street casino for good and provide working Americans — including vulnerable low-income families and communities of color — with the strongest financial protections possible.
While we applaud this appointment, we continue to believe that Warren should be appointed to be CFPB’s first director. We are confident that the president will continue working to overcome the unprecedented obstructionism in the Senate that’s blocked so many of his well-qualified nominees to make that happen.
The Leadership Conference joined with a broad coalition of organizations to ensure that final financial reform legislation included strong protections for consumers and effective regulation to hold Wall Street accountable. The promise of the reforms contained in the law, however, will be determined in large measure by how the regulators flesh out its details.