Since the Jan. 25 court decision lawyers for companies in the financial services industry have pondered how to handle inquiries from CFPB supervisors, who examine books of banks and non-bank firms on a daily basis. For now, many lawyers are advising companies to treat CFPB examiners as though nothing has changed, said Richard Gottlieb, an attorney with Dykema Gosset PLLC in Chicago.
“Nobody should try to simply ignore the CFPB when they come in,” Gottlieb said in an interview. “The issue is going to get resolved before too long, and it won’t take a year to resolve it.”
Senator Tim Johnson, the South Dakota Democrat who heads the Senate Banking Committee, said the case would be appealed. A better approach, he said, would be to confirm Cordray to the job.
“The courts are going to have to decide this matter, and I expect that the Administration will appeal the DC Circuit decision,” Johnson said in an e-mail. “However, it shouldn’t have had to come to this. The Senate should confirm Richard Cordray without delay.”
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Senator Mike Johanns, a Republican from Nebraska, called on Cordray to resign in a Jan. 25 letter in the wake of the court decision. Johanns also asked the Government Accountability Office in a letter the same day to determine how the decision would affect CFPB.
Gottlieb said the court ruling has not changed the relationship of supervised companies with the CFPB. They don’t want to antagonize their regulator, and CFPB does not want to force the issue. CFPB supervisors have informally declared “business as usual,” Gottlieb said.
“No one wants to be in court,” Gottlieb said. “The CFPB doesn’t want to force anyone into court.”
Chance Gordon, owner of the Gordon Law Firm, is willing to go to court if necessary, his lawyer Kurtz said. Gordon wants the court to unfreeze his assets and obtain compensation for the fact that a court-appointed receiver effectively shut down his business, according to Kurtz, his lawyer.
“We’re not looking for a lot,” Kurtz said.