“We know the optics are bad,” said Scott Talbott, vice president for government affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable, a trade association in Washington. “If you are against a consumer regulatory agency, then everybody will say you’re against consumer regulation.”

The proposal would strip away all the consumer responsibilities that are currently assigned to existing bank regulators, like the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Comptroller of the Currency.

It would give the new agency marching orders to set standards for traditional mortgages, and the agency would have the authority to demand that lenders offer those kinds of loans or give consumers the chance to opt out of riskier products.

It would also give the new agency the power to restrict or prohibit mortgages that come with hidden fees and steep penalties for borrowers who pay the loan off early. It would also be empowered to interpret and enforce the new credit card law that Congress passed last month, aimed at restricting banks from arbitrarily raising interest rates.

It would also have examiners, much like existing bank regulatory agencies, who would have the authority to go into specific institutions, issue subpoenas and scrutinize their practices, demand changes and seek penalties.

Administration officials said the proposal would create a “level playing field” and provide the same regulation for particular consumer products regardless of what kind of financial institution was selling them.

By contrast, existing regulators have authority over only particular kinds of financial institutions. The office of the Comptroller of the Currency regulates national banks, while the Fed supervises bank holding companies.