Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), independent U.S. government agency responsible for most of the federal oversight and enforcement of consumer protections relating to financial institutions and businesses, established 2011. Charged with ending unfair, abusive, or deceptive practices and promoting effective and transparent competition in consumer financial products and services, the CFPB inherited authority and responsibilities previously exercised by a wide range of other federal bodies and is the first federal agency to have consumer financial protection as its primary focus. It also is the first federal agency to supervise financial institutions known as nonbanks, such as payday lenders, debt collectors, credit reporting agencies, and private student lenders. Created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010), which was enacted in the aftermath of the severe financial crisis that began in 2007, the CFPB is funded primarily by transfers from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.