FDIC

The FDIC is seeking comment on how to encourage small-dollar lending at banks, signaling a course change from guidance it issued five years ago restricting such loans.

The agency’s flawed methodology for determining interest rate caps on certain accounts poses risks for banks offering free, low-deposit checking and the financial system more broadly.

Top executives at Advance America acknowledged that anti-money-laundering concerns at banks were likely the cause of account terminations, even as they publicly blamed a stealth regulatory campaign.

As the FDIC considers reforms to its brokered deposit rules, the agency should recall the problems these funds caused in the lead-up to the S&L crisis, argues former Chairman William Isaac.

Payday lenders argue that banks cut ties with their industry due to pressure from biased and hostile regulators. But the reality, in some cases, may be more nuanced.

Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee expressed concern that FDIC examiners are verbally discouraging banks from working with certain businesses.

The federal agencies said in a recent statement that “guidance does not have the force and effect of law,” but two trade groups say that standard should be more binding.

The $263 million portfolio has been covered by a loss-share agreement since an investor group bought the failed BankUnited in 2009.

One of the biggest sticking points as regulators try to reform the Community Reinvestment Act is expanding the assessment footprint but ensuring banks continue to serve their direct communities.

Jelena McWilliams has signaled a thaw in the agency’s approach to industrial loan companies, but she said tech firms and other nonbanks seeking charters should face the same level of regulatory scrutiny as more traditional banks.