U.S. financial watchdog, Illinois to announce major enforcement

Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the state of Illinois planned to announce a major legal action on Wednesday afternoon, according to a notice from the watchdog.

A spokesman for the CFPB, which was created to guard individuals against fraud in student loans, mortgages and other forms of debt, would not say who was the target of the enforcement. The Illinois Attorney General's office would not comment.

The Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan led a national probe of student loan servicer Sallie Mae, now called Navient Corp, that started in December 2013, and the CFPB sent the company a notice in April 2014 saying that it was considering taking legal action against it. According to Navient's latest regulatory filings, both investigations are still open. The company's spokespeople did not return requests for comment.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Andrew Hay)