CFPB Signals Alarming Interest in Small Business Lending

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau posted an alarming job opportunity on LinkedIn last month for the position of Assistant Director for Small Business Lending Markets. Ominously self-labeled as an “Expression of Interest” rather than a job opening since the job is not currently open to applications yet, the CFPB has inadvertently revealed its own expression of interest in small business lending.

If there was any doubt that data collection required under Section 1071 of Dodd Frank was never going to happen, the CFPB also revealed that there will not only be a person responsible for small business lending, but in fact an entire team. And they won’t just be collecting data, but they’ll be monitoring it, analyzing it, interpreting it, and advising on rulemaking, according to the listing.

Candidates are being offered a once-in-a-career opportunity to make the market for small business finance fairer and more transparent.

So much for just collecting data, the CFPB apparently plans to directly insert itself into the fairness of transactions conducted between commercial entities.

Perhaps, we are not too far off from a world like this:

Check out my thoughts about the troubling narrative developing around small businesses in the Sept/Oct magazine issue of deBanked.

Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future deBanked events here.