Sens. Ed Markey and Ron Wyden argue that the Small Business Administration neglected to warn small firms of the risks of merchant cash advances and closed off a key "escape route" from the resulting debts.
In a move seen to bolster his 2028 presidential run, California Governor Gavin Newsom named Rohit Chopra, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to lead a new oversight agency; a Pine Bluff, Arkansas, bank employee was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for bank theft; a Fairfax, Virginia, security administrator has been charged with allegedly stealing more than $6.6 million from his employer; and more in this week's banking news roundup.
New Federal Reserve stats show most consumers carry and store paper money, even as digital payments become mainstream.
The Mississippi lender's pending acquisition of OFB Bancshares, the parent company of One Florida Bank, offers an entry point into the fast-growing Orlando market.
At some banks, executives are overpromising results and putting tremendous pressure on tech teams, leading to a range of problems.
Fund managers are seeking to change the way banks think about Community Reinvestment Act investing.
"The numbers are obviously worth keeping an eye on, but lenders are managing the risk," said Melinda Zabritski, Experian's senior director of automotive finance. But she’s not yet worried about the rise in delinquencies or loans to those with lower credit scores, saying Experian hasn’t seen any obvious red flags. "Subprime has always been a part of the auto finance market and that's not going to change," she said. "We still have a lower percentage of subprime loans than we had before the recession."
Experian stated that 20.8% of open auto loans are held by those with subprime and deep subprime credit ratings, a slight increase from the fourth quarter of 2014.
As auto sales climbed to a record high last year, banks, credit unions and the finance divisions of automakers wrote so many loans that the total amount borrowed for new cars and trucks hit almost $1 trillion in the fourth quarter.Auto delinquencies and repossessions historically climb when unemployment rises and the economy slows. The latest economic data may show the economy slowing, but the unemployment rate dropped below 5% in January, the lowest level in years.