The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new unit will identify the root causes of recurring violations and find ways to hold companies accountable.

Two long-awaited developments — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's data access proposal and the Federal Reserve's faster payments network debut — are slated for next year. The combined effect on consumer banking might be more consequential than we now know.

Consumer advocates urged a district court to dismiss a lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, alleging that discrimination is an "unfair," practice under the Dodd-Frank Act.

The loans for self-employed borrowers are getting a fresh examination to determine if they fall within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's updated guidelines for qualified mortgages, which went into effect in October.

Many experts think the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding through the Federal Reserve could be the fatal flaw in the Dodd-Frank Act that created the agency, but differentiating the CFPB's structure from others may be tricky.

Amid testimony from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra in front of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Pat Toomey proposed that the agency should be funded in the congressional appropriations process.

In a series of tense exchanges, Republicans accused Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra of making rules through press releases.

Nonbanks would have to inform the CFPB of any state or local court decisions against them involving consumer financial products, under a new proposed rule. That information would be pooled with data about federal violations and be made available to the public.

After a judge dismissed a lawsuit brought under the anti-predatory-lending law, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission are urging an appeals court to reverse the ruling. They argue that lenders have little incentive to comply with the 2006 law if the threat of being sued gets diminished.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is challenging a recent appeals court decision that its funding through the Federal Reserve Board violates the separation of powers doctrine. That ruling "threatens to inflict immense legal and practical harms" on financial regulation, the CFPB says.