An internecine battle has broken out on Capitol Hill over how the Securities and Exchange Commission should enforce a blanket fiduciary standard for all financial advisers.

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Fidelity Investments said Tuesday that it has enhanced WealthCentral, its custodial platform for registered investment advisers.

Any decline in home equity balances could be offset by higher demand for other types of consumer loans. The worry is that only borrowers with blemished credit will take out home equity loans, increasing the risk for banks and credit unions.

Over the past year, the focus of several banking policymakers has been how much the regulatory pendulum might swing back toward the industry’s liking. That theme will likely continue in 2018.

A regulatory relief package is likely to come out of the Senate in the new year, and lawmakers could follow it up with a housing finance reform push. But the midterm elections could cause some reform initiatives to grind to a halt.

Underpinning the technology with mathematically sound models can make a better case to consumers and regulators for why a loan applicant was denied.

Compassionate billing, transparency and digital processing can all improve conditions for providers and patients, says Cedar's Florian Otto.

This oldest consumers in this next group are approaching their mid-20s, so financial institutions must tweak their marketing if they hope to reach them in an meaningful way.