AUSTIN, Texas — This week, Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau director Richard Cordray made his highly anticipated appearance at the
annual gathering of the Consumer Bankers Association.

While Cordray specifically mentioned the mortgage industry
and not the auto finance sector, the themes he emphasized in his comments likely
pertained to any type of borrowing contract.

"Our new role in the regulatory landscape is to create a
marketplace for consumer finance that is stronger and more resilient so that
honest businesses can succeed," Cordray told the assembly. "I would like to
talk to you today about how we are doing this by promoting transparency,
lowering consumer risks, and ensuring a level playing field between banks and
their non-bank competitors.

"Any good financial business should be highly transparent
with its customers," he continued. "After all, markets work best when consumers
have all the information they need to make the best decisions for themselves
and their families, and are able to choose among highly competitive
alternatives. When information is obscured or pricing is too complex to be
easily understood, the barriers to consumer comprehension create obstacles to
effective competition. Clarity about the choices available makes markets work
better."

The CFPB director then went on to stress what he called
certain general principles that are applicable to any kind of lender.

"No one should hide fees. No one should pull bait-and-switch
schemes on customers — the products advertised should be the products
delivered. No one should advertise high loan amounts or low interest rates when
few people actually qualify for such terms. And no one should be writing jargon-laden,
difficult-to-read disclosure documents that confuse consumers rather than
inform them," Cordray articulated.

"Through the data and experience we are developing at the
Consumer Bureau, we have seen that consumers need better information about the
costs and risks of borrowing," he indicated. "They need to be able to make
comparisons so they can shop around for a good deal. They also need the peace
of mind that comes from knowing that the deal they were promised is the deal
they are actually getting, not just tomorrow, but next month and next year as
well."

As dealers and finance companies know, the Dodd-Frank Wall
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act provided the CFPB with what it says
is the authority to issue rules necessary or appropriate to enable the bureau
to fulfill its obligations to protect consumers of financial products and
services. Officials added the legislation also specifically provided the bureau
with authority to issue rules regarding the confidential treatment of
information obtained by the bureau and more.

Cordray's entire speech at the CBA event can be found here.