CFPB’s Elizabeth Warren Meets with Key Religious Leaders

By PYMNTS | February 8, 2011

2/8/2011

Ahead of a roundtable meeting at the White House with prominent religious leaders, Elizabeth Warren called for more transparency and lending regulations in a Feb. 8 entry on The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Blog.

Warren, who is helping set up the CFPB as Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury, wrote that she felt it was important to meet with heads of religious communities, because they witnessed first hand the financial plight of Americans during the recent financial crisis.

“We know that when Americans feel overwhelmed by financial problems, many of them turn to their ministers or other spiritual leaders for support… We are particularly interested in hearing from these community leaders about what they are seeing on the ground—what financial issues their congregations are confronting and what people of faith are doing to help,” blogged Warren.

She added that religious leaders have also been dealing with the moral implications of the 2008 financial meltdown, segueing into a call for greater consumer protection.

“Many people of faith and conscience fought diligently for the consumer bureau because they saw that the attitudes and practices that caused the financial crisis did not reflect our common values,” wrote Warren. “Enacting the new CFPB was a David-versus-Goliath fight, but, in the end, American families triumphed.”

Warren went on to call the bureau a “direct line of support to American families” and a resource for helping consumers make informed financial decisions.

Click here to read Warren’s complete blog entry.