A bipartisan bill introduced in the House earlier this week, the Financial Product Safety Commission Act of 2018 (H.R. 5266), would create a bipartisan five-member commission to run the CFPB.  The bill was introduced by two Democratic House members and its cosponsors include a Republican House member.  H.R. 5266 would also change the CFPB’s name to the “Financial Product Safety Commission.”

The bill is likely to have the strong support of consumer finance and banking trade groups.  Industry, which has long viewed a commission as a more appropriate structure for bringing stability and predictability to the CFPB over the long run, has previously urged Congress to change the CFPB’s leadership from a single director to a commission.  Although the Financial CHOICE Act as initially proposed would have created a commission to run the CFPB, the version of the Act passed by the House last year dropped the proposal for a five-member commission in favor of a single director removable at will.