In another indication that the Trump Administration is taking a vastly different approach at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency has dropped an investigation of World Acceptance Corp., one of the largest small-dollar loan companies.

World Acceptance, which has 1,331 offices in 15 states and Mexico and specializes in installment loans, said the agency notified the company that the probe had been completed and no action would be taken against the company.

In a 2013 hearing, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) pressed CFPB officials about World Acceptance, saying the company set up offices near military bases, where they made loans with interest rates of more than 100 percent. Borrowers are then pressed to take out additional loans to pay for previous ones.

The CFPB has not issued any public statement about why it has dropped the investigation.

However, in recent weeks, Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney has said the agency will be reexamining its basic functions and revising its payday lending rule.

Consumer advocates have said they are alarmed by those steps and condemned the decision to drop the probe of World Acceptance.

Source: CU Times