CFPB Opens Office of Competition and Innovation

The CFPB opened an Office of Competition and Innovation to promote competition and identify stumbling blocks for new market entrants.

The new office replaces the Office of Innovation, which "focused on an application-based process to confer special regulatory treatment on individual companies." The new Office is set up to (i) identify obstacles to open markets, (ii) foster a fairer competitive environment by understanding how larger companies are pushing out smaller companies, (iii) host incubation events to help identify barriers to entry and (iv) simplify the process for switching to financial providers who may provide higher quality of service.

The CFPB encouraged companies, startups and members of the public to file rulemaking petitions requesting clarity on particular rules.