Law and regulation

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is facing mounting problems over racial disparities in its hiring and performance evaluation practices, which have drawn criticism and Congressional scrutiny. American Banker reporters discuss what's next for the CFPB and its critics, and what Director Richard Cordray could do to improve his agency's situation.

The payday loan business — loathed by some, misunderstood in others' eyes — stands on the verge of its biggest shake-up ever.

After slogging through several quarters of high expenses and shrinking profits, some lenders are now selling mortgage servicing rights to raise cash to cover payroll and expenses, industry sources say.

Leading bankers and presidents have been tied together over the decades by more than money and power. From the days of Theodore Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan on, blood ties have played a role, too. So says Nomi Prins, whose new book, All the Presidents' Bankers, profiles the close and complex relations at the top of American finance and politics.

Regulators cannot seem to understand that the changes effected by technological advances and modern risk management techniques have evolved banking practices and banking institutions into a new profession.

Last year, IdentityMind Global's banking partners began asking the anti-fraud and risk management provider to build an anti-money laundering system for the Bitcoin startups among the bank's clients. IdentityMind Global has now completed development on this AML technology.

A new book from Nomi Prins illustrates how the Wall Street-Washington symbiosis — the subject of much debate in the wake of the recent financial crisis — has existed for over a century.

With employee practices at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the spotlight, CFPB Director Richard Cordray said his agency is focused on ensuring fair treatment.

The controversial industry will soon be regulated for the first time on a nationwide basis. Here’s a guide to what's coming.

Regulators are expected to stick close to their original plan to establish how much the biggest banks are allowed to borrow against their total balance sheets when they issue a final rule on Tuesday. But that doesn't mean there isn't room for a significant twist.

Programs to help underwater borrowers with second liens are languishing and the Treasury's authority to create and fund new ones under the Troubled Asset Relief Program expired several years ago.

The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday with senior regulatory officials, exploring the costs of recent rulemakings and other agency actions.

The DOJ's initiative ensures that federal and state laws are not circumvented by predatory lenders … and gives federal authorities a chance to fix a very broken industry.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency named agency veteran Gary Whalen deputy comptroller for economic policy and analysis effective April 6.

Ginnie Mae is declaring its reverse mortgage securitizations off-limits for a new type of product that would require the servicer to take interest rate risk.

Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, introduced a bill Thursday designed to increase transparency at the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

The Federal Reserve rejected capital plans for three foreign-owned banks, which need time and millions of dollars in investments to make the requisite tech upgrades in order to comply.

A U.S. magistrate judge in North Carolina dealt a blow to government efforts to use the 1980s-era Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act to penalize big banks, but many experts say the decision — which is not binding — may just be a temporary glitch.

Bitcoin ATM providers and virtual currency exchanges may be subject to Texas licensing requirements, according to regulatory guidelines issued by the Texas Banking Commissioner on April 3.

The largest and most powerful arm of the central bank of the U.S. has finally admitted the megabank emperors have no clothes. It is past time that we as a nation get to the bottom of this dangerous threat and fix it