Deputy director of CFPB leaving agency; acting deputy director named

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) -- Raj Date, the No. 2 official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is stepping down.

His last day at the CFPB was Thursday.

The bureau, created by the Dodd-Frank regulatory overhaul, is tasked with overseeing the federal financial laws that specifically protect consumers -- people who keep their money in banks and credit unions, pay for goods and services with their credit cards, and rely on loans to buy homes or pay for college, among other services.

The CFPB, in a news release Thursday, said Steve Antonakes will serve as acting deputy director while the bureau continues its search for a replacement.

According to the release, Antonakes also will maintain responsibility for his duties as the associate director for Supervision, Enforcement, and Fair Lending at the bureau.

"We will be forever grateful to Deputy Director Raj Date for his tremendous work to protect American consumers. As the CFPB's first deputy director, Raj has helped to lead the agency's organizational, strategic and policy efforts and put in place key new mortgage rules that will benefit all Americans," CFPB Director Richard Cordray said in a statement.

"Although we will miss Raj, he has helped to build a strong, talented team and I am pleased that Steve will be taking on the role of acting deputy director. Steve's knowledge, expertise, and judgment will continue to be invaluable as we move forward with our important work -- making markets work for consumers and responsible businesses."

Date, who served as the CFPB's first deputy director, spent more than two years helping to build the agency, playing a number of key leadership roles within the bureau, including as the special advisor to the secretary of the treasury and as the associate director for research, markets and regulations.

Date has had a long and varied career in and around U.S. financial institutions -- as a strategy consultant, as a bank executive, and on Wall Street.

In 2009, Date founded and served as chairman and executive director of the Cambridge Winter Center for Financial Institutions Policy, a private, nonprofit research and policy organization that supported reform of the U.S. financial system.

He was previously a managing director in the Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank Securities, where he led the firm's investment banking coverage for the largest U.S.-based banks and thrifts.

Before that, he was senior vice president for Corporate Strategy and Development at Capital One Financial, where he led mergers and acquisitions development efforts across the U.S. banking and specialty finance markets.

Date began his business career in the financial institutions practice of the consulting firm McKinsey and Company. Date also has served as an attorney, in both private and government practice.

Antonakes' background includes more than two decades as a financial services regulator.

He first joined the CFPB in November 2010 as the assistant director of Large Bank Supervision and was named the associate director for Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending in June 2012.

Antonakes began his professional career as an entry level bank examiner with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Banks in 1990.

He served in numerous managerial capacities before being appointed by successive governors to serve as the commissioner of banks from December 2003 until November 2010, becoming only the second career bank examiner to ever serve in that capacity.

In addition, he served as the first state voting member of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, as the vice chairman of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, and as a founding member of the governing board of the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System.

Antonakes also received NeighborWorks America's Government Service Award for his work in combatting foreclosures in March 2007.

News of Date's departure comes as President Barack Obama announced his plans to re-nominate Cordray, a former Ohio attorney general, as director of the bureau.

Last week, President Barack Obama said he plans to re-nominate Cordray, a former Ohio attorney general, to the post.

Obama made the announcement a day ahead of a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruling that the President's "intrasession appointment" of three new members to the National Labor Relations Board was an unconstitutional abuse of power.

Obama ended up using a recess appointment to make Cordray the head of the CFPB last January, bypassing GOP senators who opposed his nomination.

Cordray's re-nomination is expected to face a fight -- just as it did in 2011 -- and not necessarily because of Cordray himself.

Republicans have issues with how the bureau is set up, and believe that no one person should have such power over the American people.

The agency, they argue, should be run by a board rather than a director.

From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.