Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Wednesday 25 april 2018
A25

Consumer watchdog becomes alphabet soup of controversy

By KEN SWEET doing in many ways — and
AP Business Writer put it on 'this is a bureau-
NEW YORK (AP) — The Con- cracy'," Donner said.
sumer Financial Protection Republican lawmakers,
Bureau is dead. Long live who have long had issues
the Bureau of Consumer Fi- with the bureau, have been
nancial Protection. happy to go along with the
That's the message the name change. Jeb Hensar-
Trump administration is ling, chairman of the House
pushing, at least, in what Financial Services Commit-
on the surface seems like a tee, said in a statement "I
minor tweak to the name commend Acting Director
of the federal consumer Mulvaney's efforts to follow
watchdog agency creat- the law as written."
ed after the Great Reces- "I've looked at the stat-
sion to protect consumers ute, and I don't see 'CFPB'
against banks, credit card in the statute anywhere,"
companies, debt collectors said Rep. Barry Loudermilk,
and other financial com- R-Georgia, at last week's
panies. hearing.
But critics see it as a not-so- The bureau has quietly
subtle effort to telegraph rolled out a new logo as
the abrupt ideological turn well. Since early in its ex-
the bureau has taken since istence, the CFPB used a
Trump-appointee Mick green, lowercase text logo
Mulvaney became acting using the bureau's initials. In this Nov. 27, 2017, file photo, Mick Mulvaney speaks during a news conference after his first day
director last year. Under The new logo is a more tra- as acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington.
Mulvaney, the bureau has ditional government seal, Associated Press
proposed revisiting or roll- with an eagle in the mid-
ing back the rules, regula- dle, and the name Bureau Bureau of Consumer Finan- "The Associated Press rou- and understand," said John
tions and policies that the of Consumer Financial Pro- cial Protection. tinely reviews suggestions Daniszewski, the AP's vice
Obama administration put tection on the perimeter. "We are in the process of for Stylebook entries and president for standards.
into place when it con- The seal is similar to other updating our own materials considers whether those "In this case, we note that
trolled the agency. The bu- seals used by agencies to reflect our legal name suggestions will help to the Consumer Financial
reau has dramatically cut overseeing the financial and would appreciate your make our report clear, fair, Protection Bureau website
back on enforcement ac- industry, including the Fed- (Stylebook) being similarly accurate, consistent, and continues to use the initials
tions as well. eral Reserve and Treasury updated," bureau spokes- easy for audiences to use CFPB."q
The Dodd-Frank Act cre- Department. man David Mayorga said
ated a "Bureau of Con- The logo got its first use last in its request.
sumer Financial Protection" week when the bureau an- The AP's Stylebook, pub-
in 2010. But, except for the nounced its $1 billion fine lished since 1953 and peri-
occasional court filing, the against Wells Fargo. odically updated, is a road
bureau was consistently re- A logo is often the most vis- map of rules on spelling,
ferred to as the Consumer ible part of any company language and journalis-
Financial Protection Bu- or organization, and brand- tic style for the company's
reau, or CFPB. ing experts say the change journalists.
Mulvaney took over the is quite stark. It is also widely used as a
bureau as acting director "You couldn't find a bet- blueprint throughout the
in late November, when ter example of contrast- news industry.
Obama appointee Richard ing messaging here. One
Cordray resigned. Since says 'we are here to help'
then, the bureau has in- while the other says 'we
creasingly referred to itself are the mighty and here to
as the Bureau of Consumer protect,'" said Kit Yarrow,
Financial Protection, or by a professor of psychology
the acronym BCFP. and an expert on corpo-
During testimony last week rate branding at Golden
on Capitol Hill, Mulvaney Gate University.
said, "The Consumer Finan- The push to change the
cial Protection Bureau does bureau's name is still in the
not exist." early stages. The bureau's
But swapping "Bureau" from website still uses the old
back to front is not a simple logo, and the bureau still
word shuffle, said Lisa Don- refers to itself as the CFPB
ner, executive director for across its webpage. Email
the advocacy group Amer- addresses to the bureau still
icans for Financial Reform. end in @cfpb.gov.
"Doing that signals you But the CFPB — or BCFP —
want to take the emphasis has requested that The As-
away from serving consum- sociated Press change its
ers — which unfortunately entry in the AP Stylebook to
is what Mulvaney's been refer to the agency as the