The Wall Street Journal

Funding Cuts at CFPB Seen Leading to ‘Regulatory Vacuum’ for Big Banks

Turmoil at the agency could harm not only consumers but also small state-chartered banks, as their bigger rivals gain advantage from lax CFPB supervision, 23 state attorneys general say in court filing

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters in Washington.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters in Washington. Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press

Trump administration plans to slash funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau leave large federal banks without a functioning fraud watchdog—a major regulatory gap, according to a group of state attorneys general.

With the CFPB’s “dormancy,” no federal regulator is conducting anti-consumer-fraud examinations on very large banks such as JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, a group of 23 state led by New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a court filing Wednesday. The AGs didn’t accuse any banks of wrongdoing.

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