WASHINGTON–The CFPB is expressing concerns that some of its former employees are taking advantage of confidential information to make money.
CFPB Director Rohit Chopra has published a blog post in which he calls on current workers to report suspicious activity.
In the post, Chopra said that in some cases the act of former employees perhaps having a financial incentive to exploit confidential information to which they may have had access is behavior that “may even violate criminal law.”
As a result, the Bureau has issued additional guidance to staff urging them to report suspicious communications and activity by former agency workers, including violations of federal ethics and confidential information disclosure laws and regulations.
“This will allow the CFPB to detect activity by former employees and other government agencies who may be violating existing ethics and confidential information disclosure laws and regulations,” Chopra wrote. “For example, the guidance directs current employees to file reports with agency ethics officials if they learn a former employee may be illegally providing ‘behind the scenes’ assistance to a party under investigation by the CFPB.”
Potential Disciplinary Hearings
Chopra said the CFPB plans to use any information to make “appropriate referrals to civil and criminal authorities as provided for in federal law.”
For former government attorneys engaging in violations, Chopra added, the CFPB will also make referrals to state licensing bodies and bar associations that may wish to consider disciplinary proceedings.
Chopra said that “no regulated entity” should feel it needs to retain the services of a former government employee to meet its legal and regulatory obligations.
“At the CFPB, agency alumni will not get special treatment,” Chopra stated in the blog post. “In fact, it will be just the opposite. We will be applying heightened scrutiny to matters and decisions where a party has employed or retained the services of a former employee to ensure that the CFPB is meeting the highest standards of ethics and integrity implemented nearly a decade ago.”