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Obama names consumer protection czar

18 September 2010 21:15 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. US President Barack Obama has chosen Elizabeth Warren to launch the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to set new regulations for credit cards, mortgages and financial products, APA reports quoting Press TV.

President Obama on Friday appointed Warren to the interim position of an assistant to the president and a special advisor to the Treasury Secretary, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The decision would allow Warren -- the bankruptcy expert known as an aggressive consumer advocate and Wall Street critic -- to oversee the creation of the new agency poised to regulate banks, lenders and credit card companies.

The new watchdog bureau is part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act signed in July and funded by the USD 700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program financial bailout that was originally enacted in 2008.

The body will receive a budget of USD 400 million and is tasked with protecting consumers from "unfair, deceptive or abusive" practices of corporations, Bloomberg News said.

Republicans have expressed opposition to the establishment of the bureau arguing that it would have too much power while business and banking communities have opposed Warren as its director, saying that she would make the agency too aggressive.

Meanwhile, liberal groups and many consumer advocates have expressed support for Warren saying that they want to see her heading the bureau.

Addressing Warren’s appointment ceremony on Friday, President Obama said â€œNever again will folks be confused or misled by pages of barely understandable fine print that you find in agreements for credit cards or mortgages or student loans."

Warren explained that the bureau will help consumers with better understanding of the system, therefore helping them make better financial decisions.