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In a post- (albeit mid-) COVID-19 climate, with an economy trying desperately
to rebound from a global pandemic, some might say it is confounding, and perhaps
borderline sardonic, that the California Legislature would throw a fast curveball
aimed directly at financial institutions. However, on August 31, 2020, the California
legislature passed what is packaged as a self-proclaimed historic initiative, the
California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL). e law promises to better
protect consumers from financial bad players and foster innovation throughout the
state's financial services, which legislators intimate the federal government promised
but failed to do.
is law is said to embody the ambitions
of the Dodd-Frank Act Title X and its
offspring by creating a new and improved
mini-CFPB, coined the Department of
Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI).
According to the Governor's 2020-2021
Budget Summary, the DFPI promises to
be a more influential and potent banking
agency than its predecessor, the existing
Department of Business Oversight (DBO),
with redesigned authority and the capacity
for expansive enforcement. Headlines may
nickname the new law "mini," but don't be
fooled, nothing about California's mini-
CFPB is actually pint-sized or diminutive.
is article offers a highlight reel of the
new law and summarizes what the DFPI
is set out to accomplish in its purported
effort to better protect consumers and foster
innovation in financial services throughout
California. Gov. Newsom has been critical of
the current CFPB. " Bottom line, California's
BACK TO
THE FUTURE
California takes a time machine to the era of Dodd-Frank reform.
Feature By: Rosemarie C. Hebner & Eric D. Houser
