Cordray named first CFPB head

Former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray was recently announced as the first head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, just days before the agency is set to gain full regulatory power over the lending industry. Obama said Cordray was picked because of his strong commitment to protecting the middle class throughout his career.

Many within the banking industry believe that Cordray could impose more harmful measures against the lending industry than the previous favorite to win the post, Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren. It was Warren who was originally tasked with building the agency and setting some of its goals.

Republican lawmakers had been critical both of the bureau itself and Warren in particular, and had vowed to stonewall her appointment to the post. But with Cordray taking the helm instead, the way lenders deal with consumer credit card debt may soon be drastically altered because of his cavalier approach to reigning in predatory practices by the banking industry.