CFPB Announces Senior Personnel Changes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced several changes to senior leadership positions within the agency. Among those named are: Acting Assistant Director for Regulations; Senior Counsel in the Office of the Director; Deputy General Counsel; and Staff Director for the Consumer Advisory Board and Councils.

“I am pleased to announce these new additions and updates to the CFPB leadership team,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “We look forward to welcoming them as we continue to work on behalf of the American consumer. We are also grateful to Leonard Chanin for his guidance in building this agency and for furthering our mission to make markets work for consumers.”

The following CFPB staffing changes were announced today:

Kelly Thompson Cochran: Kelly Thompson Cochran, who will now serve as the Acting Assistant Director for Regulations at the CFPB, previously served as the Deputy Assistant Director for Regulations. As Deputy Assistant Director, she oversaw preparation of the Bureau’s proposed and final rules implementing Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act provisions regarding remittances, mortgage servicing, mortgage disclosures, mortgage loan originator compensation, high-cost mortgages, and appraisals. Prior to stand-up of the Bureau, she led the planning for the Bureau’s rulemaking function, including supervising the launch of project teams and coordinating the hiring and transfer of staff from several federal agencies. Ms. Cochran came to the Bureau from the U.S. Treasury Department, where she advised office and departmental leadership concerning general consumer protection issues and the consumer and investor protection provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. Prior to joining Treasury in November 2009, Ms. Cochran practiced law with the firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr in Washington, D.C., with a focus on consumer financial services regulatory counseling and litigation. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the UNC School of Law, and a former clerk on the U.S. District Court for D.C. and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Ms. Cochran will assume the responsibilities of Leonard Chanin, who is departing the Bureau.

Chris Lipsett: Chris Lipsett will join the Bureau as Senior Counsel in the Office of the Director. Most recently, Mr. Lipsett was a partner in the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. Mr. Lipsett’s practice focused on regulatory, compliance, counseling, litigation, and transactional matters in the financial services industry, with an emphasis on credit cards and other consumer products. Typical assignments included representing leading financial institutions or trade associations in high-stakes assignments involving consumer protection and disclosure, product development and design, operations, network issues, pricing, and other subjects. Mr. Lipsett represented financial services clients in major class action and issue-oriented litigation in Federal and State courts at all levels, involving a wide variety of consumer financial products. He also clerked at the Fifth Circuit and the Supreme Court. Mr. Lipsett is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Stephen Van Meter: Stephen Van Meter, who will now serve as Deputy General Counsel, joined the CFPB’s Legal Division in June 2011 as Assistant General Counsel for Policy. In that role, he has helped to lead the Legal Division’s Law and Policy Group, which is responsible for providing legal advice to the Bureau’s leadership and mission units on matters relating to consumer protection laws and regulations, administrative law, and the Bureau’s authorities and jurisdiction. Mr. Van Meter came to the CFPB from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, where he served for nearly 14 years, most recently as Assistant Director of the Community and Consumer Law Division. In that capacity, he provided legal and policy advice on a wide range of consumer protection issues. Previously, Mr. Van Meter was a Senior Attorney in the Legal Division at the Federal Reserve Board, and an associate at the law firm of Ropes & Gray in Boston, Massachusetts. He started his legal career as a Law Clerk to Justice Francis P. O’Connor of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Mr. Van Meter graduated from Harvard Law School, cum laude, in 1986, and from the University of Michigan, with highest distinction, in 1983.

Delicia Reynolds Hand: Delicia Reynolds Hand joins the CFPB as the new Staff Director for the Consumer Advisory Board and Councils. In this capacity she will plan, direct, coordinate and evaluate the CFPB’s advisory boards and councils, including the Consumer Advisory Board, Community Bank Advisory Council and Credit Union Advisory Council. She will serve as the principal advisor to the Consumer Advisory Board chair and will work with senior management to determine the priorities, objectives and policies of these advisory boards and councils. Prior to the joining the CFPB, Ms. Reynolds Hand was the Legislative Director for the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA), General Counsel at the Center for Community Change, Senior Counsel to John Sarbanes of the U.S. House of Representatives and Skadden Fellow, Staff Attorney at CASA of Maryland, Inc. Ms. Reynolds Hand obtained her law degree from American University, Washington College of Law and her Masters in International Political Studies from the University of Cambridge, U.K.