The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau named six people to top staff positions Tuesday, including the head of a new office for small-business lending.
The bureau tapped Grady Hedgespeth for the new position of assistant director for the Office of Small Business Lending Markets. Hedgespeth had been the director of the Office of Economic Opportunity for the U.S. Small Business Administration, which he joined in 2007.
Five of the six hires already work at the CFPB. Four of them have served in the same positions but on an acting basis.
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The agency recently cited providing equal access to small-business loans as one of nine top priorities for the next two years, saying it plans to build a team dedicated to the issue and infrastructure "to intake and analyze small-business lending complaints." But bankers worry it may go too far.
March 3
Seth Frotman was named student loan ombudsman and assistant director for the Office for Students and Young Consumers, positions he has held on an acting basis. Frotman joined the bureau in 2011 as a senior adviser to Holly Petraeus, the assistant director for the Office of Servicemember Affairs.
John Schroeder was name Midwest regional director for the Office of Supervision Examinations. He previously held the same position on an acting basis. Schroeder joined the CFPB in 2013 and has been an assistant regional director in the Midwest.
Katherine Gillespie will serve as the deputy associate director for the CFPB's Consumer Education and Engagement division, a position she also held on an acting basis. Gillespie previously was senior counsel to the bureau's deputy director and has been the associate director of the supervision, enforcement and fair-lending division.
Chris Johnson was named the assistant director for the Office of Consumer Response, a job he has held on an acting basis. He previously had been a deputy assistant director in the same office and joined the CFPB in 2011.
Finally, Elizabeth Ellis was named deputy associate director for the external affairs division, replacing Lisa Konwinski. Ellis previously was the deputy assistant director for the Office of Financial Institutions and Business Liaison.
