Dodd-Frank

Depending on the outcome of the election, the fight over two conflicting state ballot initiatives could provide a road map for the embattled payday lending industry or consumer activists seeking bans in other states.

No matter the outcome of the divisive 2016 election, the many regulations still in the pipeline from banking regulators are not going to come to a screeching halt when the next president takes the helm in January.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the New York Attorney General filed a lawsuit Wednesday against two New York debt collectors for deceiving and harassing millions of consumers to pay inflated debts.

A lot of analytical horsepower is being spent on what will happen to the markets after the election, but it seems to make more sense to talk about what will not change for consumers, investors and financial institutions.

If Sen. Sherrod Brown becomes chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, he is likely to focus on toughening rules on the biggest banks, conducting oversight of scandals like the one at Wells Fargo and granting regulatory relief to smaller institutions.

Progressives are already pushing Democrats to appoint another Wall Street reformer to the Banking Committee if they win back the Senate, but other considerations, including the 2018 midterms, will play a significant role in who is chosen.

WASHINGTON – Sixteen Senate Democrats sent a letter to federal financial regulators on Wednesday asking them to strengthen a proposal to restrict executive compensation at financial firms.

The piling on at Wells Fargo has reached an unprecedented level, even for a bank. Fifteen investigations are underway into Wells' phony account openings. Experts are quantifying the damage to Wells' reputation and what the bank can do going forward to repair it.

Neither bank regulators nor banks' risk managers can afford to wait until rating agencies downgrade Deutsche before understanding the level of exposure they have to the German bank giant.

Based on questions from appellate judges on Monday morning, MetLife appears to be facing an uphill fight to defend a lower court ruling that found federal regulators erred in designating the firm as a systemically important financial institution.