D.C. Circuit Brings CFPB Under Presidential Control

On October 11, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its long-awaited opinion in PHH Corp. v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in which the Court held that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") was unconstitutional under the Separation of Powers doctrine because its single Director was not subject to the supervision and control of the Executive Branch.¹ The Court's remedy was to reinterpret the relevant provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank") to recast the CFPB as an executive agency, providing the President the power to supervise, direct, and remove at will its Director. Despite finding that the structure under which CFPB had been operating since its creation in 2011 was unconstitutional, the Court explicitly declined to address – at least for now – the effect of its ruling on past CFPB rules and enforcement actions.²