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BofA backlash, Facebook’s bad deal and selling a century-old bank: Top stories of the week

The Trump administration's stance on immigration is causing headaches for some banks, how a tiny black-owned bank is turning to fintech to turn itself around; why banks are rejecting Facebook's offer to share data and more from this week's most-read stories.

BofA faces backlash over questions about customers' citizenship

Bank of America branch
Pedestrians stand in front of a Bank of America Corp. branch in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on Sunday, July 9, 2017. Bank Of America Corp. is scheduled to release earnings figures on July 18. Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg
The bank's predicament suggests that the Trump administration's hard-line stance on immigration can cause headaches for financial institutions.

(Full story here.)

The painstaking process to sell a family's century-old bank

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The family that owns KleinBank negotiated for employee incentives for nonrelatives and retention awards as part of the Minnesota bank's proposed sale to Old National.

(Full story here.)

Banks won't 'like' this offer from Facebook

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A woman checks the Facebook Inc. site on her smartphone whilst standing against an illuminated wall bearing the Facebook Inc. logo in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2015. Facebook Inc.s WhatsApp messaging service, with more than 100 million local users, is the most-used app in Brazil, according to an Ibope poll published on Dec. 15. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Facebook is seeking customer data from big banks. Executives say it's not clear what the benefit would be, but the drawbacks are easy to tally.

(Full story here.)

A blue wave is coming. Banks need to get ready

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
Representative Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California, speaks during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Wednesday, July 27, 2016. With the historic nomination for the first woman to run as the presidential candidate of a major U.S. political party, Democrats gathered in Philadelphia hoped they had turned a corner on Tuesday. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
The Ohio special election is the latest sign that Democrats are well positioned to retake the House in midterm elections this fall.

(Full story here.)

How this tiny black-owned bank is turning itself around with fintech

Staff meeting South Carolina Community Bank
A $52 million-asset African-American-owned bank in South Carolina is hoping its efforts can be expanded to help underbanked consumers nationwide.

(Full story here.)

Fannie, Freddie could need $78B in crisis: FHFA

Fannie Mae headquarters
In this photo taken with a tilt-shift lens, the sign outside Fannie Mae headquarters stands in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, March 14, 2011. Fannie Mae and McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac were seized and placed under U.S. control in 2008 as losses on soured loans pushed them to the brink of insolvency. The two government-sponsored enterprises have been sustained by more than $150 billion in U.S. aid. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
The mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would have to draw as much as $78 billion in the event of a serious economic crisis, according to stress test results released Tuesday by the housing regulator.

(Full story here.)

Senate Dem demands Wells Fargo explain error that led to 400 foreclosures

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said it is hard to imagine how Wells Fargo's $8 million remediation plan would correct a mistake that led to 400 wrongful foreclosures.

(Full story here.)

'Still a real need for … human interaction' in retail banking's future

Tory Nixon
Tory Nixon, who became Umpqua's chief banking officer this spring, is trying to drive more customers to use mobile banking (only 15% do so now industrywide) without alienating them in the process.

(Full story here.)

Banks earning less from overdrafts, but critics still find fault

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There's much for banks to like — and for consumer advocates to dislike — in a report on the industry's overdraft policies released Tuesday by the Center for Responsible Lending.

(Full story here.)

What's missing from the OCC's fintech charter

Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting
Joseph Otting, Comptroller of the Currency nominee for U.S. President Donald Trump, listens during a Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, July 27, 2017. Otting, who has served as OneWest Banks chief executive officer, would bring a lengthy resume working for banks that are overseen by the agency he's been tapped to run. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
The agency's decision to offer special-purpose charters for fintech companies raises questions about how those institutions will be overseen and the risks they could pose to the system.

(Full story here.)
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