Law and regulation

The bank's approval last year to buy OneWest Bank included a condition to submit an updated Community Reinvestment Act plan, but the CRA program now being presented by CIT is far from adequate.

The former chief executive of a Georgia community bank that participated in the Troubled Asset Relief Program was sentenced to prison and fined $3.9 million for hiding the bank's past-due loans and committing other fraud.

Regulators’ focus on having banks and credit unions offer payday loan alternatives to underserved consumers overlooks the success of Web-based companies in filling credit gaps.

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.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has not named a permanent deputy director since July. Given the contentious political battle over Richard Cordray's recess appointment and ultimate confirmation by the Senate in 2013, some former officials say it may wait until after the election to make a choice. Here's why.

WASHINGTON — Democratic senators introduced a bill Thursday that would separate out medical debt from other types of consumer debt for credit reporting purposes.

After the financial crisis led to a long nationwide drought in the creation of new banks, the second de novo bank application in less than a year has been submitted in California.

Tech giants like Intel and Apple are doing more business with women- and minority- owned underwriters; Christine Lagarde has five more years at the IMF; and why Lehman Sisters might not have failed. Plus, are girls getting a bad rap from dictionaries and bad counsel from parents?

WASHINGTON — Regulators announced Thursday that they are imposing $4 million in fines against Gibraltar Private Bank and Trust Co. in Coral Gables, Fla., for defective anti-money-laundering programs.

Preparing for the inevitable future credit crisis by setting aside more loss reserves is a step toward avoiding government bailouts.

A day after Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray told financial industry executives that Congress did not intend to exempt small institutions from most rules, several lawmakers begged to differ.

Carolina Alliance Bank in Spartanburg, S.C., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund program.

Compliance officers are terrified of a New York State Department of Financial Services proposal that could make them criminally liable for failings in their firm’s anti-money-laundering programs, according to industry representatives.

The top leaders of the National Credit Union Administration said this week that they support an alternative option that would allow credit unions to merge some operations — a prospect that is alarming banking industry representatives.

Payment technology provider Stripe aims to equip global entrepreneurs with the necessary banking and payments relationships to launch an online business in the U.S.

Instead of focusing on the effect of swipe fee rules on banks and credit unions, retailers should ask why the Durbin amendment hasn’t produced the promised cost savings for their consumers.

WASHINGTON — Despite dire predictions by banks and others that new mortgage rules by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would cut off access to credit, the industry is performing well two years after the regulations went into effect, according to the agency's top official.

On the one hand, the FDIC's Quarterly Banking Profile showed how normal banking is again. But there were also worrying signs, including an increase in chargeoffs, higher loan-loss provisions and fears of the impact from the energy sector.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday hit Citibank with $8 million in fines and restitution for allegedly selling credit card debt at inflated rates and failing to send consumer payments to debt buyers. Two debt collection firms also were ordered to pay civil penalties for altering the dates and amounts of debt owned by consumers.

The founder and former chief executive of Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust in Coral Gables, Fla., has sued the bank for fraud and breach of contract after it fired him in 2012.