Issue link: http://dsnews.uberflip.com/i/1307704
64 In a post- (albeit mid-) COVID-19 climate, with an economy trying desperately to rebound from a global pandemic, some might say it is confounding, and perhaps borderline sardonic, that the California Legislature would throw a fast curveball aimed directly at financial institutions. However, on August 31, 2020, the California legislature passed what is packaged as a self-proclaimed historic initiative, the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL). e law promises to better protect consumers from financial bad players and foster innovation throughout the state's financial services, which legislators intimate the federal government promised but failed to do. is law is said to embody the ambitions of the Dodd-Frank Act Title X and its offspring by creating a new and improved mini-CFPB, coined the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI). According to the Governor's 2020-2021 Budget Summary, the DFPI promises to be a more influential and potent banking agency than its predecessor, the existing Department of Business Oversight (DBO), with redesigned authority and the capacity for expansive enforcement. Headlines may nickname the new law "mini," but don't be fooled, nothing about California's mini- CFPB is actually pint-sized or diminutive. is article offers a highlight reel of the new law and summarizes what the DFPI is set out to accomplish in its purported effort to better protect consumers and foster innovation in financial services throughout California. Gov. Newsom has been critical of the current CFPB. " Bottom line, California's BACK TO THE FUTURE California takes a time machine to the era of Dodd-Frank reform. Feature By: Rosemarie C. Hebner & Eric D. Houser