Opinions

Bank groups hope rapid congressional action highlights the small-business lending program's political appeal, while nonbank lenders sense an opportunity.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau denied an auto dealer trade group's request for a document detailing limits imposed by Honda's financing arm on dealer price discretion.

Western Union announced that it will reinstate international remittances into Greece, after suspending them following the country's decision to shut down all banks amid a mounting debt crisis.

Regulators rely for critical information on consulting firms that are paid by the very same banks that they are engaged to evaluate. This conflict of interest has repeatedly proven toxic.

IMGCAP(1)]

Two years after a Texas community bank's legal challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's constitutionality was dismissed by a federal court, the case is back from the dead.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including recommended reforms to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Ripple Labs' efforts to work toward a decentralized payments protocol.

Sen. Susan Collins successfully added a measure to an appropriations bill that would allow the FDIC, OCC and Fed to exempt banks with less than $10 billion of assets from regulations that they deem unnecessary or burdensome, which some observers said could have a big impact.

A Senate bill passed late Thursday provides additional funding but it also requires enhanced reporting on lending and credit quality from SBA. The measure is headed to the House.

The Justice Department is investigating whether Citigroup let customers move illicit cash through its Mexico unit, setting the bank's biggest international operation in the path of an expanding money-laundering probe.