Opinions

A mortgage title company and a handful of individuals are being sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Maryland Attorney General related to an alleged mortgage kickback scheme with banks such as Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

A House subcommittee approved a bill Wednesday that would redirect money from an affordable housing fund that receives money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into another program run by HUD.

Individual rules put in place after the financial crisis have made some large banks safer, but the number and complexity of new regulations may well have made the overall system riskier, according to a provocative new paper by a top financial analytics firm.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is joining Pacific Investment Management Co. as a senior adviser, his second consulting agreement with a top money manager in as many weeks.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard Shelby offered a few hints Wednesday about what bankers might be able to expect from pending regulatory relief legislation due next month.

Regulators can avoid extensive, after-the-fact investigations of banks' illegal actions by standardizing the form and content of transaction data so they can spot compliance problems in real time.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau gave a strong warning to the banking industry on Tuesday when it fined Regions Financial $7.5 million for allegedly charging illegal overdraft fees.

At Citigroup and Wells Fargo, shareholder proposals to disclose more about lobbying garnered double-digit percentages of the vote. PNC basked in environmentalists' admiration — after agreeing to leave business on the table.

The Senate Banking Committee kicked off the first of several hearings on the insurance industry this week, as companies brace for heightened oversight under the Dodd-Frank Act and other efforts.

Regions Financial will pay a $7.5 million fine after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it charged consumers illegal overdraft fees on checking and payday-loan-like accounts.