The CFPB has announced the appointment of new members to its Consumer Advisory Board, Community Bank Advisory Council, Credit Union Advisory Council, and Academic Research Council.  In January 2016, the CFPB published a notice in the Federal Register soliciting applications from individuals interested in becoming members.

According to the CFPB, the new members “include experts in consumer protection, financial services, community development, fair lending, civil rights, consumer financial products or services, representatives of community banks and credit unions, and scholars with relevant methodological and subject matter experience.”  New Consumer Advisory Board and Academic Research Council members will serve three-year terms and new Community Bank and Credit Union Advisory Councils members will serve two-year terms.

The new members are as follows:

Consumer Advisory Board Members

• Lynn Drysdale, Managing Attorney, Consumer Law Unit, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc., Jacksonville, FL
• Paulina Gonzalez, Executive Director, California Reinvestment Coalition, San Francisco, CA
• William Howle, Head of U.S. Retail Bank, Citibank, New York, NY
• Ruhi Maker, Senior Attorney, Empire Justice Center, Rochester, NY
• Arjan Schutte, Founder and Managing Partner, Core Innovation Capital, Los Angeles, CA
• Lisa Servon, Professor, The New School, New York University, New York, NY
• Raul Vazquez, Chief Executive Officer, Oportun, Redwood City, CA
• James M. Wehmann, Executive Vice President, Scores for Fair Isaac Corporation, Roseville, MN
• Chi Chi Wu, Staff Attorney, National Consumer Law Center, Boston, MA

Community Bank Advisory Council Members

• Melissa A. Ballard, Vice President and Director, First Iowa State Bank, Albia, IA
• Menzo D. Case, President and Chief Executive Officer, Generations Bank, Seneca Falls, NY
• Linda Feighery, Vice President and Community Reinvestment Act /Fair Lending Officer for Citywide Banks, Denver, CO
• Brenda K. Hughes, Senior Vice President and Director of Mortgage and Retail Lending, First Federal Savings Bank of Twin Falls, Twin Falls, IA
• Dion Kidd Johnson, President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Risk Officer, Western Bank, Alamogordo, NM
• Cal Ratcliff, Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, Bank of North Carolina, High Point, NC
• Trent Sorbe, President, Central Payments Division, Central Bank of Kansas City, Kansas City, MO

Credit Union Advisory Council Members

• Faith Lleva Anderson, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, American  Airlines Federal Credit Union, Fort Worth, TX
• Daniel Berry, Chief Executive Officer, Duke University Federal Credit Union, Durham, NC
• Patrick F. Harrigan, Chief Risk Officer and General Counsel, Service Credit Union, Portsmouth, NH
• Ricardo Ledezma, Corporate Compliance Assurance Manager, San Antonio Federal Credit Union, San Antonio, TX
• Sarah Marshall, Chief Executive Officer, North Side Community Federal Credit Union, Chicago, IL
• Dayatra T. Matthews, Senior Vice President of Legal & Compliance, Local Government Federal Credit Union, Raleigh, NC
• Amy Nelson, Chief Executive Officer, Point West Credit Union, Portland, OR
• Raynor Zillgitt, Vice President Risk Management and General Counsel, Lake Trust Credit Union, Brighton, MI

Academic Research Council Members

• Ian Ayres, William K. Townsend Professor, Yale Law School, New Haven, CT
• Brigitte Madrian, Professor, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Both Professor Madrian and Professor Ayres hold a Ph.D. in economics.  According to her profile on the website of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Professor Madrian’s current research is focused on “behavioral economics and household finance, with a particular focus on household savings and investment behavior.”  Professor Madrian’s research focus fits within the CFPB’s orientation towards the use of behavioral economics, an economic theory that has been playing a central role in the CFPB’s regulatory and enforcement agenda.  The CFPB seems reluctant to include neo-classical economists who do not subscribe to behavioral economics on its Academic Research Council.

Director Cordray has described Professor Ayres as having “deep experience in analyzing discrimination.  He also had been engaged in careful study of economic and legal issues related to consumer finance.”  Based on our review of Professor Ayres’ CV on the Yale Law School website, it appears he has written extensively on issues relating to gender and race discrimination, including discrimination in auto sales.  A 2014 article in the Michigan Journal of Race and Law described Professor Ayres as having spent much of his career “empirically documentingrace and gender discrimination, including in the context of consumer purchasing.”