Obama picks nominee for CFPB director

In a release sent out on July 17, President Barack Obama stated that he will announce his intent to nominate Richard Cordray as the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). He will make the announcement at an event today at the White House.

Last year, the President fought to pass and signed into law the strongest consumer protections in history in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The act created the CFPB, an independent agency with the primary mission of acting as a watchdog for American consumers. The CFPB ensures that consumers have the information they need to make the financial choices that are best for them and prevents abusive and deceptive financial practices.

"American families and consumers bore the brunt of the financial crisis and are still struggling in its aftermath to find jobs, stay in their homes, and make ends meet," Obama said. "That is why I fought so hard to pass reforms to fix the financial system and put in place the strongest consumer protections in our nation's history. Richard Cordray has spent his career advocating for middle class families, from his tenure as Ohio's attorney general, to his most recent role as heading up the enforcement division at the CFPB and looking out for ordinary people in our financial system."

"I also want to thank Elizabeth Warren not only for her extraordinary work standing up the new agency over the past year, but also for her many years of impassioned leadership, and her fierce defense of a simple idea: ordinary people deserve to be treated fairly and honestly in their financial dealings. This agency was Elizabeth's idea, and through sheer force of will, intelligence, and a bottomless well of energy, she has made, and will continue to make, a profound and positive difference for our country."

Currently, Cordray is serving as chief of enforcement at the CFPB. Immediately prior, Cordray served as attorney general of Ohio from January 2009 to January 2011. As attorney general, Cordray recovered more than $2 billion for Ohio's retirees, investors and business owners and took major steps to help protect its consumers from fraudulent foreclosures and financial predators. Prior to his tenure as Ohio's attorney general, Cordray spent two years as Ohio's state treasurer and four as the treasurer of Franklin County, Ohio. In 2008, he received a Financial Services Champion award from the U.S. Small Business Administration and a Government Service Award from NeighborWorks America. In 2005, he was named "County Leader of the Year" by American City & County Magazine.

Earlier in his career, Cordray was an adjunct professor at the Ohio State University College of Law (1989-2002), served as a state gepresentative for the 33rd Ohio House District (1991-1993), was the first solicitor general in Ohio's history (1993-1994), and was a sole practitioner and of counsel to Kirkland & Ellis (1995-2007). Cordray has argued seven cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including by special appointment of both the Clinton and Bush Justice Departments. Cordray is a graduate of Michigan State University, Oxford University, and the University of Chicago Law School. He was editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Law Review and later clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy.