American Banker magazine covered new research by University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law Professor Christopher L. Peterson in its latest edition.
Four years after Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as a tool to help the American public recover from scars left by the economic collapse of the Great Recession, Peterson evaluated the agency’s performance and effectiveness as consumer financial civil law enforcement agency that is working to prevent harm — such as predatory lending and other fraudulent practices — from harming consumers. 
Peterson’s analysis, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Law Enforcement: An Empirical Review, draws upon pleadings, consent orders, settlement agreements, press releases and other public documents, to study every public enforcement action announced by the bureau through 2015 based on over 70 variables. Peterson examined whether the CFPB’s law enforcement program is making strides to protect Americans from the financial, mental health and physical harms associated with illegal consumer financial practices.
Peterson told American Banker he “hopes the study will be used to rebut criticisms that the CFPB is overreaching its authority, arguing it shows the agency stays within its mandate.”