Rohit Chopra is the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Nominated by President Joe Biden, Chopra was confirmed by the Senate on Sept. 30, 2021. The CFPB was created to ensure that consumers are educated and protected in the use of financial products and services offered in the market.

Early Life and Education

Rohit Chopra was born on Jan. 30, 1982, in Plainsfield, N.J. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 2004 and obtained an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2009. Chopra’s first position was with McKinsey & Company, where he worked in the financial services, healthcare, and consumer technology sectors.

Role at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

The CFPB was established following the 2008 financial crisis. With the passage of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB was built as a unit of the Federal Reserve System charged with protecting families and businesses from illegal practices by financial institutions. It ensures that markets for consumer financial products and services are fair, transparent, and competitive.

From 2010 to 2015 Chopra served as an assistant director and student loan ombudsman at the CFPB. He acted as a special adviser to the secretary of education on student loan servicing issues at the U.S. Department of Education. Chopra led efforts to increase competition in the student loan financing market, develop new tools to allow students and student loan borrowers to make smarter decisions, and secured refunds for borrowers victimized by unlawful conduct by lenders, debt collectors, and for-profit college chains. Chopra returned to the CFPB as its director in 2021.

Role at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Rohit Chopra served as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioner from May 2, 2018, until Oct. 12, 2021. The FTC protects consumers and competition by preventing deceptive, unfair business practices.

While at the FTC Chopra successfully strengthened sanctions against repeat offenders, reversed the agency’s reliance on no-fault settlements in fraud cases, and halted abuses of small businesses. He also led efforts to revitalize dormant authorities, such as those to protect the Made in USA label.

Director of the CFPB

Since its inception under President Obama, the CFPB has been a politically polarizing entity. Democrats are known to support the agency’s regulation of the financial industry and Wall Street, while Republicans deplore the bureau’s power over a significant portion of the economy. Chopra, a Democrat, regarded as a seasoned regulator and Wall Street critic, has worked to further Democratic policies and demonstrated his intention to effect major change in the world of consumer finance.

In October 2021 the CFPB issued a directive known as “Payment Orders,” a request for information from six major American technology companies, including Facebook, Google, and Amazon, relating to the payment services that they offer to American consumers. The issuance of the Payments Orders notice signaled the Bureau’s intent to assert itself as a primary regulator of major financial technology companies.

The Payment Orders decree was the first of many assertions made by the CFPB under Rohit Chopra’s early leadership. The CFPB has also initiated steps to investigate the banking industry’s use of and dependence on overdraft and nonsufficient fund fees for revenue, possible “redlining" and use of discriminatory practices, and “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) plans offered to consumers as convenient layaway plans that also encourage consumer debt.

The Bottom Line