Dear Readers,
A lot has changed since last month. Joe Biden is officially president, and Kathy Kraninger has resigned as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) two years into her five-year term at the new administration’s request.
Biden has nominated Federal Trade Commission member Rohit Chopra to be the agency’s next director. If confirmed, Chopra — a close political ally of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who created the idea of the CFPB — is expected to step up RESPA enforcement and other laws affecting the financial services industry.
The Senate will also be holding hearings for a new head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Biden previously announced Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge as his pick to replace outgoing HUD Secretary Ben Carson.
Speaking of personnel changes, longtime Mayer Brown Partner Phil Schulman recently transitioned to a new role at the firm as senior counsel. In this month’s cover story, we speak to Schulman at length about his goals for the future and how his past influenced his career path — from his humble beginnings growing up in upstate New York to his reputation as the foremost authority on RESPA. We also talk to Schulman’s friends and colleagues on what he has meant to the industry. For instance, Franzen & Salzano Partner Loretta Salzano called him the master of “entertaining us while educating us — even when we might not like the message.” Schulman will continue to take on legal cases that interest him. In addition, you’ll likely still be seeing him around at future conferences doing presentations on the art of joke-telling.
Sincerely,
Tracey Read
Editor, RESPA News
tread@octoberresearch.com