the former departments. Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (2020) In an effort to strengthen consumer financial protections in California, Governor Gavin Newsom in 2020 proposed an initiative to modernize and revamp the Department of Business Oversight (DBO). The measure included an increase in staff and authority, to enhance the department's regulatory scope and enable it to become a national model for consumer protection. Effective September 29, 2020, the DBO changed its name to the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. The California Consumer Financial Protection Law The California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL) gave the DFPI expanded enforcement powers to protect California consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices committed by unlicensed financial services or products; COVID-19 pandemic-inspired scams; and a regulatory retreat by some federal agencies, most notably the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Modeled after the CFPB, the new law also was designed to promote innovation, clarify regulatory hurdles for emerging products, and increase education and outreach for vulnerable groups. Two pieces of legislation, AB 1864 and AB107, were passed on August 31, 2020. The bills advanced the CCFPL and signaled the start of the DFPI's transition and name change. The CCFPL went into full effect on January 1, 2021. Division of Consumer Financial Protection and Office of Financial Technology Innovation Governor Newsom's initiative also created the Division of Consumer Financial Protection and the Office of Financial Technology Innovation within the DFPI. The Division of Consumer Financial Protection is responsible for supervising those financial services not previously regulated by the department. The Office of Financial Technology Innovation is responsible for engaging with new industries and consumer advocates to encourage responsible innovation and job creation in California. Department divisions and units Division of Consumer Financial Protection The Division of Consumer Financial Protection is responsible for supervising and regulating financial activities not previously overseen by the department. These include debt collection, debt relief, private post-secondary education finance, and newly emerging financial products or services. Division of Corporations and Financial Institutions With the passage of the CCFLP, the Division of Corporations and Division of Financial Institutions were merged into a single division, the Division of Corporations and Financial Institutions, in 2020. The Division of Corporations and Financial Institutions licenses and regulates broker-dealer and investment advisers; financial service providers like payday lenders, finance lenders and brokers, and escrow companies; residential mortgage lenders and loan originators; commercial, industrial, and foreign (other nation