The new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is reversing yet another policy set by her predecessor by giving more sway to a group of committees that advise the financial watchdog, the Washington Post reported. CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger said yesterday that she would lengthen the tenure of members of the Consumer Advisory Board and three other committees to two years, and would allow half of the committees’ existing membership to continue serving. The agency would also increase the number of in-person board meetings per year from two to three. Mick Mulvaney, who ran the CFPB for President Donald Trump on a temporary basis until last December, dissolved the Consumer Advisory Board and other groups, which act as a sounding board for the agency on important economic and financial issues as well as policy. Consumer groups had expressed outrage at the move, saying it stopped important dialogue between the CFPB and outside groups. Kraninger did leave open the question on how big these boards would be going forward. The Consumer Advisory Board had 25 members before Mulvaney reduced it to nine. (Subscription required.)
