Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The five-year-old Consumer Financial Protection Bureau hit its stride in 2016. Among the actions taken this year:

In May, it proposed rules to limit mandatory arbitration clauses—contractual fine print that financial firms use to deprive disgruntled (and even defrauded) customers of their day in court. In June, it proposed rules to keep payday lenders—who make short-term loans at sky-high interest rates—from lending "without reasonably determining that the consumer has the ability to repay."

In July, it proposed rules to limit how often debt collectors can contact consumers—and require them to get the details right. In September, it launched a massive enforcement action against Wells Fargo, which paid $100 million for opening some 2 million accounts without customer knowledge. And in October, the CFPB finalized rules that extend credit card protections to prepaid cards and payment apps like Venmo.