Kate Berry

Rising interest rates could force some community banks to fall below a critical capital threshold that the Federal Housing Finance Agency uses to determine eligibility for Home Loan bank advances.

Dozens of community bankers and housing experts offered their opinions on the Federal Home Loan Bank System, the first review in nearly 100 years. But the insurers, nonbanks and megabanks that use the system the most were largely absent from the debate.

Four of the seven large banks that own Zelle's parent company, Early Warning Services, said they are reimbursing 15% to 55% of consumers that report fraud on their accounts, according to a report released by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency got an earful from housing experts at a listening session intended to aid a comprehensive review of the financing system.

A federal judge found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau overstated the costs and understated the negative impact of exempting 1,700 financial institutions from reporting Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data.

The trade groups, including the American Bankers Association, allege the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau exceeded its authority by claiming discrimination in any financial product violates the federal prohibition on "unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices."

The president referred to so-called bank junk fees in remarks that echoed Rohit Chopra, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, who has sought to crack down on excessive charges.

Financial institutions continue to push back against efforts to be held liable when a consumer is tricked into sending a payment that later turns out to be a scam.

Late penalties on credit cards are set to rise 9% in 2023 under current rules that allow for increases tied to the Consumer Price Index. But Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra says he wants to issue a regulation that could undo that inflation-related exception to limits on fees that banks may charge cardholders.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director is looking at "small ways" to hold peer-to-peer payment providers responsible for investigating allegations of fraud under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.

A couple squatted in their foreclosed home since 2009 and are only now being evicted, highlighting stubborn problems in the foreclosure process.

An appeals court ruled that the electronic delivery of private information that was not made public did not constitute real harm to the consumer.

A Government Accountability Office report found that regulators scaled back supervisory examinations during the pandemic in part because of banks' technological shortcomings.

Though fewer people are writing checks, banks of all sizes are seeing a massive increase in check fraud since 2020. Recouping losses from bad checks is pitting banks against each other, and regulators may have to weigh in.

The reduction in banks' assessments marks the fourth time in four years that the OCC has cut the semiannual regulatory fees that fund supervisory work.

Customers told the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that bank customer service practices need a lot of work, but banks say more regulation would only make matters worse.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to issue guidance soon around fraud liability on digital payment platforms, and the thorniest question concerns who pays for customers' mistakes.  

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent offensive against redlining by nonbank mortgage originators is increasingly relying on internal communications to make charges stick.

The remittance provider claims the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau worked to ensure it could file the case in a venue that would be more receptive to its claims.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said that digital marketers involved in the development of content strategy can be liable for "unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices."