Warning Shot On Financial Protection

Warning Shot On Financial Protection

By JEAN EAGLESHAM

The enforcement chief of the new U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the agency plans to "immediately" use its powers to take on any misbehavior by Wall Street firms and other financial institutions once the agency officially opens in July.

In his first interview since arriving at the agency last month to set up its enforcement operations, Richard Cordray suggested he will use the same aggressive approach that he was known for in his previous job as Ohio's attorney general. Last year, the 51-year-old Mr. Cordray described the foreclosure practices used by companies now under a nationwide investigation, including Wells Fargo & Co and the GMAC Mortgage unit of Ally Financial Inc., as "a business model built on fraud."

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Mr. Cordray said mortgages, credit cards and student loans are high on his enforcement agenda. No decisions will be made until the agency digs into problem areas and sets its "priorities accordingly," he said. "I don't prejudge what we're going to find."

In addition to banks, credit unions and securities firms, the new agency has oversight powers for thousands of payday lenders, mortgage-servicing operations, debt collectors and other financial companies.

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