Opinions

The Department of Justice is looking into whether the two dozen banks that facilitated bribes allegedly paid to FIFA officials knew they were doing so. The case is also a test of how much liability banks have over illegal payments they allow.

Provident Funding Associates, a private mortgage lender, has agreed to pay $9 million to settle allegations its brokers charged minorities higher fees and interest rates, federal regulators said Thursday.

Banks with more than $1 billion of assets are now required to report overdraft income in their call reports. Data released Wednesday reveals which banks rely most heavily on revenue from overdrafts — and which could be most vulnerable to looming changes in overdraft regulations.

Financial messaging organization Swift opened its KYC registry to fund distributors and custodians Thursday.

New servicing standards issued by the government-sponsored enterprises are unlikely to pose a hurdle for the biggest nonbank players in the market, but small servicers could find it more challenging.

Burdensome requirements prevent consumer reporting agencies from providing people with educational materials in a timely manner. The Facilitating Access to Credit Act would remove these arbitrary barriers.

Community banks had a banner first quarter, federal regulators said Wednesday — but it may come at a problematic time, politically speaking. The Quarterly Banking Profile may only deepen some lawmakers concern that small banks do not need regulatory relief if they are performing so well.

The U.S. is examining banks' conduct as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe of international soccer that has netted charges against 14 people, including officials with the sport's organizing body.

The American Bankers Association announced that Rob Nichols, head of the Financial Services Forum and a former top Treasury Department official, would be its next CEO. The move appears designed to boost the ABA's profile inside the beltway.

Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain's largest taxpayer-owned lender, could pay as much as $4.5 billion to resolve claims of misconduct in its handling of U.S. mortgage securities, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.