The current single-director leadership structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is not a recipe for transparency and accountability. Creating a multimember commission to oversee the agency is the answer.

Directors today are expected to perform many duties that, even a decade ago, weren't part of the job, from overseeing cybersecurity and the bank's culture to setting online and mobile strategy. Yet the composition of many bank boards hasn't changed all that much. Here's what to do if you have longtime members who lack the skills needed to help a bank compete.

The state's highest court ruled that lenders affiliated with Native American tribes are not entitled to sovereign immunity and must comply with state interest rate caps. It marks the latest triumph for consumer groups and state governments that have sought to rein in high-cost consumer lenders.

The bank formerly run by Steven Mnuchin, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to head the Treasury Department, allegedly used illegal practices in foreclosing on delinquent homeowners, according to a leaked 2013 memo from the California Attorney General's Office.

First Midwest Bancorp will move its headquarters to Chicago from Itasca, Ill., next year. The $11.6 billion-asset company will open an 80,000-square-foot office in the spring of 2018.

The bank's new CEO, Onur Genc, fresh from Turkey, will have to find a way to leverage the considerable tech and innovation investments the bank has made and strengthen the brand's U.S. presence.

Shivan Govindan, chairman of First NBC Bank in New Orleans, has taken on the task of salvaging a bank that is reeling from accounting issues and a substantial capital requirement from regulators.

OptimumBank in Plantation, Fla., has been hit with an enforcement action due to concerns about its asset quality, capital position, compliance with anti-money-laundering regulations and other issues.

From the industry repercussions of Trump's election victory to the rise of the robots in financial services, these are American Banker's most popular stories of 2016.

Capital One Financial in McLean, Va., is facing regulatory delays as it looks to buy a credit card business from outdoor equipment chain Cabela's.

Proponents of "recap and release" misread the political risks and the depth of interest that key lawmakers have in determining the long-term future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Hancock Holding in Gulfport, Miss., has agreed to buy nine branches and about $1.3 billion in loans from First NBC Bank in New Orleans.

The phony-accounts scandal at Wells Fargo illustrates how sales quotas can incent bad behavior. Is your bank effectively mitigating the risk of 'managing to metrics'? Or could it be in danger of becoming a 'cargo cult'?

As you plan for the coming year — and beyond — here are some challenges and opportunities worth thinking about.

As you plan for the coming year — and beyond — here are some challenges and opportunities worth thinking about.

Even in a digital era, human connections still matter. That is one big disadvantage for fintech startups and increasingly for banks as customers stop making regular branch visits. So it is instructive to hear SoFi's thinking on how to overcome this challenge. It is trying some unorthodox tactics to better understand the people behind the data and to create meaningful connections with them.

From Dimon's campaign against earnings guidance to the bottom-line implications of rising rates, here are more of our favorite stories of the year. (See part I here.)

Kenneth Mahon, the new CEO of Dime Community Bank, wants to reduce the 152-year-old institution's multifamily exposure by diversifying into other asset classes. But finding new business amid already fierce competition could be an immense challenge for Dime — and other community banks — in 2017.

The Rural Housing Service is expanding its manufactured housing loan guarantee program to include more refinancings of used or existing manufactured homes.

Bank stocks are on a tear after Donald Trump's victory drove up expectations for the industry's profits. Here's the catch for many people working there: Holding onto their jobs won't be any easier.