Earlier this week, the CFPB announced the addition of several new members to its senior leadership team.
The announcement included the news that the CFPB has filled the position of Assistant Director for the Office of Small Business Lending Markets. The CFPB’s job posting indicated that the Assistant Director would head the CFPB’s team involved in developing rules to implement the small business lending data requirements of Dodd-Frank Section 1071. Section 1071 amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require financial institutions to collect and maintain certain data in connection with credit applications made by women- or minority-owned businesses and small businesses. Such data includes the race, sex, and ethnicity of the principal owners of the business. Presumably, the hiring of the Assistant Director means that the CFPB will now move forward on rulemaking.
The leadership additions announced by the CFPB were the following:
- Grady Hedgespeth will serve as the Assistant Director for the Office of Small Business Lending Markets. Before joining the CFPB, Mr. Hedgespeth served as the Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity for the U.S. Small Business Administration. He originally joined the Small Business Administration in 2007 as the Director of the Office of Financial Assistance where he oversaw the agency’s business lending programs. Before working in government, Mr. Hedgespeth led two different national small business community development financial institution lenders and created several businesses focused on underserved markets at some of the nation’s largest banks.
- Seth Frotman will serve as the CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman and Assistant Director for the Office for Students and Young Consumers. Mr. Frotman had been serving in the same positions on an acting basis. He originally joined the CFPB as part of the Treasury Implementation Team in early 2011 as senior advisor to Holly Petraeus, the Assistant Director for the Office of Servicemember Affairs.
- Elizabeth Ellis will serve as the Deputy Associate Director for the External Affairs Division. Ms. Ellis previously served as the CFPB’s Deputy Assistant Director for the Office of Financial Institutions and Business. Before that, she served as the Senior Advisor to the CFPB’s Chief of Staff.
- Katherine Gillespie will serve as the Deputy Associate Director for the Consumer Education and Engagement Division. Ms. Gillespie previously served in the same position on an acting basis. Before that, Ms. Gillespie served as Senior Counsel to the CFPB’s Bureau’s Deputy Director and the Associate Director of the Supervision, Enforcement, and Fair Lending Division. Ms. Gillespie originally joined the CFPB in 2011 as a senior counsel in the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity.
- Chris Johnson will serve as the Assistant Director for the Office of Consumer Response. Mr. Johnson previously served in the same position on an acting basis. He joined the Office of Consumer Response in January 2011 as a member of the Treasury Implementation Team. Within the Office of Consumer Response, Mr. Johnson has worked as the Deputy Assistant Director, a section chief, and a quality assurance manager.
- John Schroeder will serve as the Midwest Regional Director for the Office of Supervision Examinations. Mr. Schroeder previously served in the same position on an acting basis. He joined the CFPB in March 2013 and before becoming an acting regional director, he worked as the Assistant Regional Director and as a field manager in the Midwest region.
We note that the CFPB has still not filled the position of Deputy Director, which has been open since Steven Antonakes resigned in July 2015. Following Mr. Antonakes’ departure, Meredith Fuchs served as Acting Deputy Director. In January 2016, the CFPB announced that David Silberman would replace Ms. Fuchs as the CFPB’s Acting Deputy Director.