On May 12, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the appointment of former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra as Secretary of California’s newly created Business and Consumer Services Agency (BCSA), which is scheduled to launch on July 1, 2026. According to the press release, the new agency will consolidate a broad range of California licensing, enforcement, and consumer protection functions under a single agency umbrella.
The BCSA was established through a government reorganization initiative announced by Governor Newsom last year. The agency is intended to improve coordination across California departments responsible for licensing, enforcement, and consumer protection activities involving multiple sectors of the state’s economy. The BCSA will oversee several major California regulatory agencies and departments, including the DFPI, Department of Consumer Affairs, Department of Real Estate, Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, and Department of Cannabis Control.
Chopra previously served as CFPB Director from 2021 to 2025 and as a Federal Trade Commission Commissioner from 2018 to 2021. The Governor’s office highlighted his prior work involving junk fees, consumer financial services oversight, banking and payments competition, and allegedly unfair business practices.
Putting It Into Practice: The creation of the BCSA and appointment of former CFPB director Chopra to lead the agency may signal greater regulatory scrutiny as federal priorities continue evolving. Financial services providers operating in California should expect state rulemaking and regulatory oversight to increase and should monitor developments involving the BCSA and related agencies to ensure compliance and examination preparedness procedures remain aligned with California’s increasingly centralized regulatory structure.
