First an investigation, then a résumé
NEW YORK — The former CEO of a payday lending company that had been under investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has asked to be considered for the top job at the watchdog agency, the Associated Press has learned.
Such a request would have been extraordinary in the years when the agency was run by an Obama appointee and often targeted payday lenders.
Under Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump's budget director and acting director of the CFPB, the bureau has taken a decidedly friendlier approach to the financial industry including cutting down on enforcement and dropping investigations or lawsuits against payday lenders and other companies.
On Jan. 22, World Acceptance said a CFPB investigation had been completed without enforcement action. It also said CEO Janet Matricciani had resigned. Two days later, Matricciani sent an email with a résumé to what appears to be Mulvaney's personal email address to pitch herself as a candidate to lead the CFPB. The email was shared exclusively with the Associated Press by Allied Progress, a left-leaning consumer advocacy group, which obtained the document as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.
She goes so far as to cite the CFPB's investigation into her company as an experience that uniquely qualifies her for the job.
World Acceptance, one of the nation's biggest payday lenders, is based in South Carolina and gave Mulvaney thousands of dollars in campaign contributions while he represented the state in Congress.
There is no evidence that Mulvaney acted upon Matricciani's request other than forwarding the email to his official government email account. A senior adviser for Mulvaney said Matricciani is not being considered for any jobs at the CFPB.