Law and regulation

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would change the calculus used in determining assessment fees for small banks, resulting in most of those institutions paying less in premiums.

Bank of Mingo in Williamson, W.Va., will pay a total of $4.5 million in fines and legal settlements after it was investigated for violating anti-money-laundering laws.

More than a year after the CFPB revamped its employee rating system following allegations of discrimination, Equal Employment Opportunity complaints have surged and the agency faces ongoing accusations of bias and retaliation against workers who speak out.

California Gov. Jerry Brown violated state law by diverting more than $331 million in mortgage settlement funds for uses unrelated to housing, a Superior Court judge ruled.

House lawmakers plan to introduce a bill Monday to delay a controversial risk-based capital proposal for credit unions that would require regulators to further study the issue before finalizing the plan.

The cumbersome regulations for prepaid products proposed by CFPB could reduce market competition, discourage innovation and effectively cut off many Americans' participation in the digital economy.

Multinational banks that delay preparation for the European Union's proposed General Data Protection Regulation could pay a steep price: hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren shot back at criticism from JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, saying bankers don't dislike her because she knows too little but because she knows too much.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the pitfalls of using alternative data to score "credit invisibles" and whether Benjamin Lawsky's successor should play nice with big banks.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan cybersecurity bill backed by the financial industry failed to clear a key procedural hurdle Thursday evening, raising fresh questions about when or if the legislation can advance past the Senate floor this year.

Almost two-dozen banks in New York City do not appear to offer or widely advertise basic checking accounts, although state law requires it, the New York City Comptroller said Friday.

Nearly five years after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, regulators are beginning to question whether the cumulative effect of the rules authorized by the law are hurting market liquidity — and if that could pose a systemic risk.

Terrorism financiers are exploring the use of virtual currencies such as bitcoin to fund their operations as authorities crack down on the flow of illicit money through more traditional channels, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

Community West Bancshares in Goleta, Calif., said that a litigation settlement concerning its sale of residential-mortgage loans will reduce its second-quarter profit.

Anthony Albanese, the top deputy to New York bank regulator Benjamin Lawsky, will become acting head of the state's Department of Financial Services when his boss steps down next week, signaling little change in that office's aggressive stance on financial enforcement.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week, from the qualities we should look for in the next sheriff of Wall Street to overdraft fee regulation. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.

Several House lawmakers joined the call Thursday for a formal grace period for new mortgage disclosures that would go beyond an earlier decision by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro touted the Federal Housing Administration’s recent improvement on Thursday, saying it was on a trajectory to hit its statutory minimum and had recently seen a "significant uptick in refinancings."

Banks may be using credit default swaps to circumvent capital rules, potentially shuttling risk away from the regulated sector in ways that may pose systemic risk, according to a paper issued Thursday by the Office of Financial Research.

A dramatic last-minute drop is occurring in a corner of the market for collateralized loan obligations ahead of a deadline for U.S. banks to get rid of some of their holdings.