Law and regulation

WASHINGTON — Banks are generally seeing improving credit quality and loan demand across the consumer and industrial sectors, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Board.

Banks are reacting positively to a sweeping new cybersecurity proposal from regulators, noting that it only targets the largest institutions and keys off of existing practices.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau decried an appeals court ruling last week that found its single-director structure unconstitutional, saying the opinion was "wrongly decided" and had "no basis in the text of the Constitution or in Supreme Court case law."

Rather than addressing a pressing need like an economic crisis, a fintech charter would place the federal government in the business of choosing winners and losers in a market, with the potential to distort the banking system.

Federal banking regulators issued a broad proposal Wednesday designed to counteract cybersecurity threats that could hit at the financial industry's critical junctures.

A strong and dynamic risk detection system requires focusing on the most important blind spots not satisfactorily explained by existing tools, rather than focusing on the "answers" produced by those tools.

A survey of more than 300 bankers reveals deep industry skepticism, whether of Clinton's pledge to pursue regulatory relief or Trump's claim that the Fed was playing politics with interest rates. Coming this week: what a Clinton or Trump victory would mean for banks.

Two San Francisco supervisors on Tuesday introduced a resolution that would "end all business with Wells Fargo," in response to the fake account scandal and other practices that have harmed consumers.

Recent moves by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, including a plan to regulate payday lending, take away what limited credit options consumers have.

Student loan borrowers face breakdowns and delays in applying for repayment plans that feature loan forgiveness or interest subsidies, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in a report released Monday.

Such a charter comes with a bevy of legal and policy questions to resolve, including whether parent companies of firms that obtain a fintech charter would have to subject themselves to oversight by the Federal Reserve Board. State regulators, meanwhile, fear a new charter could erode their ability to regulate firms within their jurisdictions.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council reiterated Monday that its cybersecurity assessment tool is voluntary, despite bankers' fears that not using it could put them in hot water with their examiners.

As a result of the SEC's latest reforms, today's money-market funds are very different products than their precrisis predecessors. Calls for additional layers of burdensome regulation over this industry are unwarranted.

Dorothy Savarese, the head of Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank in Massachusetts, seeks a financial system where the rules encourage community banks and big banks to do the things that they are best at.

WASHINGTON — Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White should be demoted as head of the agency because of her lack of support for a rule that would require companies to publicly disclose their political spending, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Friday.

In a sit-down interview, Amy Friend, the OCC's chief counsel, details how the agency would evaluate firms for a possible fintech charter, whether the charter would favor particular kinds of companies and what happens next in the process.

Warren's voice is powerful in criticizing big banks, but she could play a more active role in providing relief to community banks to help boost job creation.

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.

WASHINGTON — The government should encourage the development of the fintech sector, but should not grant a safe harbor for such firms, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton would engage in a review of financial regulations and simplify or eliminate those that are found to be unnecessary if she is elected president, a top adviser said Thursday.