Which agency is the enforcer most of the time?

• A. CFPB
• B. FTC
• C. FDIC
• D. OCC

Answer: (A)

The main idea is which agency has the primary enforcement authority for consumer financial protection. The agency that most often takes the lead is the CFPB. Created by the Dodd-Frank Act, it has broad enforcement powers and supervisory authority over a wide range of consumer financial products and services—mortgages, credit cards, student loans, payday lending, and similar areas. That central authority is why most enforcement actions in the consumer-finance space come from the CFPB.

The FTC does handle many general consumer-protection matters, but its reach in the financial sector is more limited and often plays a secondary role. The FDIC and OCC focus on banking regulation and the safety and soundness of institutions they oversee, enforcing banking laws within those institutions rather than serving as the primary enforcers of broad consumer-financial-protection rules.