WASHINGTON: President-elect of the USA Joe Biden on Monday he named Indian-American Rohit Chopra as head of a federal agency charged with protecting consumers’ financial interests.
If confirmed by the Senate, Chopra would succeed Kathleen Laura Kraninger as Director of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
The bureau regulates the supply and supply of financial products or services to the consumer in accordance with federal consumer financial laws and educates and empowers consumers to make better informed financial decisions.
Chopra is currently Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. He has actively advocated the promotion of fair and competitive markets that protect honest families and businesses from abuse.
He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2018 and pushed for aggressive remedies against offending companies, especially repeat offenders. Together with state and international law enforcement partners, he worked to increase the scrutiny of dominant technology companies that pose risks to privacy, national security and fair competition, the transition said.
Chopra previously served as Assistant Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he led the agency’s efforts in student loans. In 2011, the Treasury Secretary appointed him to the position of CFPB Student Credit Provider, a new position established in the financial reform law. He also served as Special Adviser in the Department of Education.
In these roles, Chopra led efforts to stimulate competition in the student loan financing market, develop new tools for students and student loan borrowers to make smarter decisions and secure hundreds of millions of dollars in repayments to borrowers who are victims of illegal conduct by credit agents, debt collectors and for-profit college networks.
Chopra’s announcement came along with Biden naming several key management positions. Among them are Elizabeth Klein as deputy secretary of the interior; Dr. Jewel Bronaugh as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture; Andrea Palm as Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services; Polly Trottenberg as Deputy Transport Secretary; Cindy Marten as Assistant Secretary of Education; and Gary Gensler as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Our government will start working to deliver immediate and urgent relief to Americans; tackle the overlapping crises of COVID-19, the historic economic crisis, racism and systemic inequality and the climate crisis; and make this government work for the people who serve, “said Biden.
“These tireless public servants will be a fundamental part of our agenda for better reconstruction – and I am confident that they will help to make significant changes and move our country forward,” he said in a statement.
“To face the unprecedented challenges that the American people face, we will need deeply experienced and well-informed leaders across our administration,” said the vice president-elect. Kamala Harris.
“These notable civil servants reflect the best of our nation and will help us to contain this pandemic, to create an economy that works for workers and to rebuild our country in a way that exalts all Americans. President-elect Biden and I are looking forward to working with them to deliver results to the American people, “she said.
