Law and regulation

Fannie Mae is planning to provide relief to lenders from potential buybacks for loans in which the borrower's income, assets and employment information have been validated through automated underwriting.

When the San Bernardino shooter obtained a loan online, he reportedly used his real name, which wasn't on the government's sanctions-screening list, underscoring the limitations of identity verification technology.

Wells Fargo appears to have offered two different reasons for why it failed to inform investors about the investigation into 2 million phony accounts. That could play a role into whether the Securities and Exchange Commission files charges against the bank for disclosure violations.

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency plans to publish Wednesday a document outlining findings on regulating fintech.

In a statement of support for fintech companies that rely on screen scraping of bank websites, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said he was "gravely concerned" about the decision of certain banks to block third-party access to consumer data.

David Stevens, the chief executive and president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, revealed Monday that he has been diagnosed with cancer in prepared remarks at the association's annual conference in Boston.

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.

Lenders will get a reprieve from the threat of some mortgage-related penalties under a new program announced by housing-finance giant Fannie Mae on Monday.

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has named Charles M. Steele, a former counsel at Davis Polk & Wardwell, as its new deputy chief counsel.

WASHINGTON — A cybersecurity information-sharing group for the financial services industry has moved forward with a plan to create an arm dedicated to combatting threats to the largest banks.

Corporate culture is difficult to define and document. But bankers have a responsibility to set high ethical standards in the way they pay and promote their employees, according panelists at a New York Fed conference Thursday.

Federal Reserve Gov. Daniel Tarullo defended regulators' item-by-item approach toward reining shadow banking activities, saying broader moves could be insufficiently tailored to the conditions of specific firms and activities.

Even if the cross-selling scandal is unique to Wells Fargo, banks nationwide will need to prepare for added regulatory scrutiny. Here's how.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

Mary Mack is beginning damage control as she overhauls Wells' sales culture; Dorothy Savarese talks diversity of bank sizes as she becomes chairman of the ABA; and Elizabeth Warren implores the president to demote Mary Jo White. Also, industry manbassadors talk work-life balance and the importance of flexibility for women as Visa's CEO resigns to devote more time to family. And a couple of small activist firms are taking on gender bias at the world's largest companies.

A federal appeals court's decision that declared the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau an arm of the White House relies on a novel interpretation of the constitution's separation of powers clause that could have broader effects on how other regulators like the OCC and FHFA interact.

In its biennial survey, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. found that in 2015, 7% of U.S. households were unbanked, marking a 0.7% drop from 2013.

A slew of recent cases of misconduct in banking – from both the investment and retail sides of the business – have eroded the trustworthiness of the entire industry, William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said Thursday.

A win by Hillary Clinton would be something of a mixed bag for bankers. On the one hand, she's a moderate with detailed policies, many of which are bank-friendly. Yet she may also be pushed to the left as she navigates issues, particularly on regulatory appointments.

The California Department of Justice is investigating Wells Fargo for allegations of criminal identity theft.