Richard Cordray: “Our job is to carry out the laws that Congress has enacted and protect consumers in the marketplace.”

We have to oversee the financial institution. We have to be able to understand the pattern of how they treat their customers.

We do not want to dry up access to credit, and maintaining that balance is quite important.

I try to treat my employees the same way we will treat financial institutions--commend them on things they do well, and criticize them on things they don't do well, and treat them fairly based on the facts.

I don't think that we should be in the business of distinguishing between different kinds of economic activities that are legal merely because someone might favor or disfavor one or another.