Watching Wall Street: Top 20 Actions the CFPB Took in 2022 Making the Marketplace Safer for Consumers

Amidst uncertainty over the future funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), PIRG recaps top 20 actions the CFPB took under a full calendar year with Director Chopra at the helm in 2022.

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Since opening its doors in 2011, the CFPB has recouped about $16 billion for consumers, enforced consumer protection laws by taking more than 300 actions against companies and processed more than 3 million consumer complaints against financial companies. 2022 was an especially active year for the agency.

The top 5 actions from 2022 highlighted in the “Watching Wall Street” report are:

  1. Ordering Wells Fargo to Pay a Record $3.7 Billion
  2. Launching an Initiative to Save Americans Billions of Dollars in Junk Fees
  3. Paving the Way for Changes to Medical Debt Reporting
  4. Examining the Marketplace to Nip Problems in the Bud
  5. Processing Record Numbers of Consumer Complaints

The remainder of the Top 20 — plus a bonus entry — are outlined in the report.

Topics
Authors

Mike Litt

Director, Consumer Campaign, PIRG

Mike directs U.S. PIRG’s national campaign to protect consumers on Wall Street and in the financial marketplace by defending the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and works for stronger privacy protections and corporate accountability in the wake of the Equifax data breach. Mike lives in Washington, D.C.

Ed Mierzwinski

Senior Director, Federal Consumer Program, PIRG

Ed oversees U.S. PIRG’s federal consumer program, helping to lead national efforts to improve consumer credit reporting laws, identity theft protections, product safety regulations and more. Ed is co-founder and continuing leader of the coalition, Americans For Financial Reform, which fought for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, including as its centerpiece the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He was awarded the Consumer Federation of America's Esther Peterson Consumer Service Award in 2006, Privacy International's Brandeis Award in 2003, and numerous annual "Top Lobbyist" awards from The Hill and other outlets. Ed lives in Virginia, and on weekends he enjoys biking with friends on the many local bicycle trails.

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