Executive Change: CFPB Announces Acting Associate Director for Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently announced the impending departure of Deputy Director Steve Antonakes to spend more time with family. Antonakes has also been serving as the Associate Director for the Division of Supervision, Enforcement, and Fair Lending.

Yesterday the Bureau announced that Meredith Fuchs will now serve as Acting Deputy Director. Ms. Fuchs is currently the General Counsel of the CFPB. She joined the Bureau in 2011 as Principal Deputy General Counsel before serving as Chief of Staff to CFPB Director Richard Cordray. Prior to joining the CFPB, she served as Chief Investigative Counsel of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. Previously, Ms. Fuchs held positions as Vice President and General Counsel of the National Security Archive at George Washington University, a litigation partner in private practice, the Supreme Court Assistance Project Fellow at the Public Citizen Litigation Group, and an officer on the D.C. Bar Board of Governors. She is the recipient of the American Library Association’s James Madison Award. Ms. Fuchs served as a law clerk for Judge Patricia M. Wald on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Paul L. Friedman on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She is a graduate of the New York University School of Law and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Also announced yesterday is that David Bleicken will now serve as Acting Associate Director for the Division of Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending. Bleicken is currently the Deputy Associate Director for that division. He joined the Consumer Bureau in June 2011 as counsel to Steve Antonakes in his capacity as Assistant Director for Large Bank Supervision. Prior to that, Mr. Bleicken was the Deputy Secretary of Banking for Non-Depository Institutions and Consumer Services at what is now known as the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities. He is a graduate of the Beasley School of Law at Temple University and Carleton College.

Unlike Raj Date, who was the Deputy Director prior to Antonakes and had considerable experience in the private sector, the background of this latest string of senior officials has primarily been with government regulators. Fenway Summer, the firm that Date founded after his stint at the Bureau was recently bought by industry advisory firm Promontory.