Key Democratic Leaders Call for Review of Employment Practices at CFPB, Financial Regulators

WASHINGTON, March 26 -- The Ranking Democratic Member of the House Financial Services Committee issued the following news release:

Democratic members of the Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations have called on inspectors general at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and all other financial regulators to assess whether any personnel practices and policies have created an unfair or discriminatory workplace for minorities and women employees.

The requests were conveyed in a series of letters led by Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Al Green (D-TX), in addition to seven other members of the Subcommittee.

In a letter sent to the Federal Reserve Inspector General Mark Bialek, the lawmakers requested the Office of Inspector General (OIG) to "immediately exercise its independent oversight authority over the Bureau's operations, to detect whether any personnel practices and policies have created an unfair or discriminatory workplace for minorities and women employed at the CFPB." In addition, the letter requests that the OIG examine CFPB's performance appraisal process, citing a number of specific questions.

The letter also requests additional information about the role of the Bureau's Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) in dealing with these matters, including a review of whether the OMWI has been involved in the CFPB's appraisal process. The letter comes in light of allegations made in a recent American Banker article.

The nine lawmakers sent additional letters to the Offices of the Inspector General at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Department of Treasury, Federal Housing Finance Agency, National Credit Union Administration, Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission. They requested review of internal operations to "determine whether any personnel practices have created a discriminatory workplace or otherwise systematically disadvantaged minorities from obtaining senior management positions." The letter cites recent OMWI reports, which suggest that disparities impeding internal upward mobility may be endemic throughout all the agencies regulating the financial services industry.

The letters were signed by Waters and Green as well as Democrats Carolyn Maloney (NY), Emanuel Cleaver (MO), Ed Perlmutter (CO), John K. Delaney (MD), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), Joyce Beatty (OH), Denny Heck (WA).

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