The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's chief rulewriter, Leonard Chanin, is leaving the Bureau next month to join the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, where he previously practiced for many years. Because of Chanin's background in private practice and the Fed, he has strong industry contacts and a deep understanding of banks' perspectives on regulation. For the past year and a half, he oversaw the Bureau's Office of Regulations, which now has a staff of 40 or so attorneys dedicated to writing new regulations across the spectrum of consumer finance markets. When I was at the CFPB, those attorneys always seemed like the busiest people in a busy place. And they continue to have their work cut out for them, particularly given the Dodd-Frank Act's imminent deadlines for new mortgage rules.
The American Banker breaks the news of Chanin's departure and quotes Alan Kaplinsky. "He's going to be a hard person to replace," says Kaplinsky, an attorney for Ballard Spahr who knows Chanin from his current job and his previous work overseeing financial protection regulations as a deputy director of the Federal Reserve Board. "There was a level of comfort the banking industry had with Leonard, because they dealt with him for many years during his tenure at the Fed. . . . I think this would be a setback for the CFPB because they're right in the midst of an avalanche of mortgage lending regulations." (The American Banker article also mentions my new law firm, which it describes as a "consumer advocacy law firm"; actually, we're doing appellate and policy work more broadly, including consumer protection.)
Here's a recent interview with Chanin.
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