CFPB Director Chopra's First Consent Order Confirms Return To Pushing The Envelope

On October 19, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or the "Bureau") entered into its first consent order under new Director Rohit Chopra, finding that a service provider to state correctional departments violated the Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) in providing prepaid debit cards to released inmates on behalf of its state and local government clients. The order notably returns the Bureau to the business of indirectly policing parties over which it has no jurisdiction, in this case state and local governments. It also confirms the new Director's strategy of attempting to deter financing of certain types of businesses by "naming and shaming" investors in companies found to have violated the law.