Governor Newsom appoints former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra to lead California’s new Business and Consumer Services Agency

On May 12, 2026, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the appointment of Rohit Chopra as the inaugural Secretary of the state’s newly created Business and Consumer Services Agency (BCSA), which will officially launch on July 1, 2026. The appointment places one of the nation’s most active consumer protection regulators at the helm of the future cabinet-level agency. Chopra may take office prior to confirmation by the California Senate but cannot continue to serve if not confirmed within 365 days.

Below, we discuss the background of Chopra’s appointment, the scope and enforcement priorities of the BCSA, and the potential impact on businesses.

Background

Chopra served as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB, or Bureau) from 2021 to 2025. Under Chopra’s tenure, the CFPB pursued a broad array of consumer protection issues, including regulation of the Buy Now, Pay Later industry; oversight of Big Tech's entry into consumer payments; elimination of junk fees; and the empowering of states to enforce federal consumer protection laws. The Bureau recovered nearly $10 billion in refunds and penalties from various companies under Chopra’s leadership. Prior to the Bureau, Chopra served as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission from 2018 to 2021, where he advocated for stronger antitrust enforcement and remedies.

Governor Newsom expressly framed the appointment as a response to federal deregulatory efforts.

The BCSA’s structure and scope

The BCSA was established through a government reorganization that split the former Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency into two entities: the BCSA and the California Housing and Homelessness Agency. The BCSA will function as an umbrella cabinet agency overseeing a broad range of functions, including licensing and enforcement, to ensure fair competition and treatment for consumers and businesses in California.

While some commentators have characterized the BCSA as a “California CFPB,” the actual structure features key differences. For example, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) will retain its existing independent statutory authority – including its broad powers under the California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) to regulate, supervise, investigate, and bring enforcement actions against financial services providers. Chopra’s role as Secretary over the BCSA will involve strategic coordination, priority-setting, and cross-department visibility rather than just the direct exercise of each department’s enforcement powers. This structure in some respects mimics the broad oversight Chopra exercised at the CFPB, and Chopra may wield significant influence over California’s consumer regulatory framework.

Enforcement priorities and their implications for businesses

Chopra’s impending oversight of the DFPI is a key development related to the BCSA and his appointment. The Governor’s office confirmed that under Chopra’s leadership, BCSA’s priorities will include focusing on junk fees and hidden charges, strengthening online privacy and consumer data protections, expanding enforcement against scams and predatory practices, and increasing corporate transparency and accountability.

This development carries significant practical consequences for companies operating in or from California. Chopra’s appointment signals a potentially more aggressive statewide enforcement posture across a wide range of regulated industries. Chopra was vocal about the need for states to use enforcement under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) as a “legislative tool” to protect consumers. In particular, Chopra urged states to adopt CFPA-style abusiveness standards, expand attorney general investigatory powers, and strengthen data rights. As Secretary of BCSA, Chopra will have the authority to help shape the agenda of DFPI – a “mini-CFPB” agency – to use the CFPA as a “legislative tool.”

Companies in the financial services industry can expect continued activity involving fintech regulation; earned wage access products; buy now/pay later products; algorithmic decision-making and artificial intelligence; consumer data practices; junk-fee initiatives; and Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP)-style enforcement theories under California law (and the CFPA). Companies should also anticipate continued and potentially increased regulatory scrutiny of fee practices and disclosures, subscription pricing and renewals, hardship and collections conduct, merchant-financed sales, medical billing and debt practices, and algorithmic decision-making that affects cost or availability of credit and other essential services.

Key takeaways

Companies with California operations are encouraged to use the period before BCSA’s July 1, 2026 launch to review customer-facing practices across the multiple regulatory lanes BCSA will oversee. Areas warranting particular attention include fee disclosures and recurring charges, advertising and pricing claims, complaint intake and remediation processes, servicing and collections practices, prior regulatory orders and enforcement history, licensing obligations, and CCFPL abusiveness exposure.

The combination of the DFPI’s already broad statutory authority and Chopra’s regulatory approach could make California a more consequential consumer financial regulator in the years ahead. Chopra could leverage California’s regulatory influence on other states to expand their own consumer protection frameworks and potentially partner with other regulators for enforcement actions. Businesses are encouraged to monitor developments closely and evaluate whether their existing compliance programs are calibrated to the heightened level of scrutiny that BCSA’s launch and Chopra’s leadership signal.

For more information, please contact the authors.