Opinions

After releasing successive studies on the payday industry over the past two years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is finally set to unveil Thursday sweeping proposals that could fundamentally change the business of short-term loans and other products

Senate Democrats have now joined the fight over the Financial Stability Oversight Council's designation process, calling for "systemically important" firms to be able to shed the label.

A top Democratic lawmaker said Wednesday that the compliance burdens placed on small and medium sized banks outweigh the risks they pose to the financial system.

Subprime auto lending has become a top priority for the CFPB, said Steven Antonakes, the agency's deputy director on Wednesday. He also revealed that it was open to making changes to its complaint portal, which the agency recently said would allow consumers to post detailed narratives of their problems with financial institutions.

The leader of the Senate Banking Committee said he'd rather leave Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in U.S. conservatorship than pass a bill that includes explicit government support for the housing market.

The CFPB's complaint portal will only be helpful to consumers if the agency takes the time to verify or contextualize their concerns.

Under tough questioning on Capitol Hill, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Martin Gruenberg said the agency accepts blame for fallout over its "high risk" businesses list as an internal FDIC watchdog is still investigating.

Former Federal Reserve Gov. Jeremy Stein has agreed to consult for hedge fund BlueMountain Capital Management, the fund announced Tuesday.

By poaching Ruth Porat from Morgan Stanley, it's clear Google wants to forge closer relationships with banks. That's because banks hold the key to helping Google expand its Google Wallet mobile-payments product.

Deron Smithy, executive vice president and treasurer of Regions Financial, said compliance costs across the 20 regional banks that are above the target have jumped by $2 billion, with his bank alone spending roughly $200 million.