Kate Berry has covered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for American Banker since 2016. She joined the publication in 2006 covering mortgage lending and the financial crisis. Berry also has covered big banks including Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo. She has won five awards from the Society of American Business Writers and Editors, and has worked at several news organizations including the Orange County Register, the Los Angeles Business Journal and the Associated Press. Berry began her career as a clerk at the New York Times.
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A coalition of 20 state attorneys general, most of them Democrats, is opposing efforts by the high-cost lenders Enova International and Opportunity Finance to acquire banks. The state AGs warn that the companies are trying to dodge state interest-rate caps.
July 17 -
One of Sweden's biggest banks agreed to the penalty to resolve a multiyear investigation into its compliance failures. The New York State Department of Financial Services said Swedbank intentionally withheld information it was required to turn over.
July 16 -
Russell Vought, the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will testify Wednesday before the Housing Financial Services Committee, three weeks before his tenure as acting director ends.
July 15 -
A federal judge has put on hold a plan for mass layoffs at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau until a new, permanent director is confirmed by the Senate. The judge's order ratifies an agreement on the issue between the CFPB and its union.
July 10 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is preparing to request information from credit-card issuers about their late fees. The renewed interest in late fees is a surprise, given the agency last year sided with the banking industry to kill a Biden-era rule that would have dropped the charges from $32 to $8.
July 9 -
A settlement with 46 states resolves allegations that Block's Cash App engaged in deceptive marketing and failed to maintain legally mandated fraud protections. The deal also requires Block to honor an agreement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau made in the final days of the Biden administration.
July 8 -
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is asking President Trump's son Eric if he plans to refile a lawsuit against Capital One Financial for allegedly "debanking" hundreds of Trump Organization accounts. The letter follows President Trump's nomination of a Capital One executive to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
July 2 -
The Independent Community Bankers of America is lobbying Congress to require federal credit unions to disclose CEO pay, as most other nonprofit organizations must do. The calls follow the discovery of a massive embezzlement scheme led by the CEO of a Mississippi credit union.
July 2 -
AB - Policy & RegulationThe high-cost lender wants a federal court to vacate a nine-figure judgment, claiming the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acted in "bad faith" by abandoning a settlement agreement that would have sharply reduced the company's payment.
June 30 -
A new lawsuit seeking class-action status alleges that FirstBank Puerto Rico knowingly facilitated Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking operation by failing to enforce basic anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer rules.
June 26 -
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is overhauling its consumer complaint portal after receiving 6.6 million complaints last year, more than double the 3.2 million in 2024, citing abuse by credit repair firms and social media influencers.
June 25 -
More than 20,000 consumers have seen their bank accounts abruptly terminated in recent months. Experts believe financial institutions are responding to the Trump administration's restrictionist immigration policies.
June 24 -
Life insurers have offloaded long-term policyholder liabilities into offshore reinsurance and captive subsidiaries, raising concerns over state oversight of opaque investment vehicles and whether insurers have adequately funded claims.
June 22 -
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals halted the Trump administration's attempt to fire nearly two-thirds of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's workforce, upholding a March 2025 injunction.
June 21 -
Federal prosecutors arrested and charged Mahender Makhijani, 44, with orchestrating a $100 million bank fraud against Western Alliance Bancorp.
June 11 -
The White House has nominated Brian Johnson, the former CFPB deputy and a veteran Capitol Hill staffer, to permanently lead the bureau.
June 10 -
The Trump administration's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has quietly scrubbed over a decade of consumer guidance and public records from its website.
June 8 -
AB - Policy & RegulationAll 11 Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee are backing a bill that would restore and lock in funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
June 5 -
New York borrowers want the Supreme Court to rehear a case requiring banks to pay interest on mortgage escrow accounts, due to a split among appellate courts.
June 3 -
An audit by the Office of Inspector General concluded that information security programs at both the Federal Reserve Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are no longer effective due to critical vulnerabilities.
June 1
