Law and regulation

If banks can develop processes that show their credit decisions are consistent, transparent, and easily auditable they will be in a better position insulate themselves from disparate impact judgments, writes Zoot Enterprises’ Eric Lindeen.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's effort to analyze the mortgage market has touched off a debate about privacy and whether the agency is going too far in its collection of financial data.

Federal and state regulators are putting more pressure on banks to take immediate actions to address looming defaults of home equity lines of credit.

Lenders hope to earn bigger profits by originating loans that fall outside the qualified mortgage guidelines, for which they can charge borrowers significantly higher interest rates. But legal risks remain.

Responding to warnings from U.S. regulators that banks are finding ways around new curbs on financial risks, Wall Street is mobilizing to defend its latest tactic to keep overseas derivatives beyond the reach of U.S. rules.

WASHINGTON — BNP Paribas on Monday became the second foreign bank this year to plead guilty to violating U.S. laws, but perhaps the biggest question about the Justice Department action against the French company is what it means for U.S. banks.

A nonbank mortgage servicer that took on more loans than it could handle ended up delaying payments to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a government watchdog report.

BNP Paribas' record $8.9 billion penalty and criminal guilty plea could have reverberations industrywide, including emboldening the Justice Department to seek similar actions against domestic banks and causing international regulators to take retaliatory action.

The Justice Department announced a criminal plea and settlement with BNP Paribas on Monday, in which the French bank will pay nearly $8.9 billion to settle charges it willfully continued to do business with countries and entities on the U.S. sanctions list. It was the largest sanctions fine in the Justice Department's history — more than four times larger than #2 on the list. The following are the largest penalties paid by banks for sanctions violations.

BNP Paribas was charged in a criminal probe of U.S. sanctions violations, signaling the bank has resolved an investigation spanning seven years and will pay almost $9 billion, the largest fine ever for such a case.

The Internal Revenue Service is about to get an unprecedented look at bank accounts and investments U.S. citizens hold abroad, through a law that is making it harder to hide assets from the tax collector.

U.S. Bancorp, the nation's largest regional lender, agreed to pay $200 million to resolve federal claims that it misrepresented the quality of government-backed mortgages the company originated.

William Dudley, head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has been elected chairman of the Economic Club of New York.

WASHINGTON — Regulators on Friday closed Freedom State Bank, in Freedom, Okla., the 12th institution to fail this year.

Banks would get protection from the Justice Department's investigation of mass-market consumer fraud under legislation sponsored by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo.

Community-sized institutions with cybersecurity gaps are facing new attention from regulators under a pilot exam project.

Bitcoin and other digital currencies will get more attention from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after prodding from a congressional watchdog.

A diverse group including troubled borrowers, low-income renters, mortgage-bond issuers and investors in those bonds will get a boost from new Treasury efforts to keep capital flowing in the mortgage market.

Bitcoin and other digital currencies will get more attention from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after prodding from a congressional watchdog.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a statement Thursday saying a Supreme Court decision issued earlier that day involving presidential recess appointments did not have any impact on the agency's previous rulemakings.