Opinions

Requiring HUD to take a stand on how it measures disparate impact may at least remove the anomaly whereby government unwittingly increases the chances a lender gets sued for discrimination.

The new year will bring an end to big regulatory settlements with banks, a sharp drop-off in the number of branches across the industry, increased use of biometric technology and a breakthrough in banks' use of big data. American Banker editors discuss these and other predictions for the year ahead in banking.

WASHINGTON — Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair will serve on the board of the RAND Corp. starting in April, the nonprofit research organization announced Tuesday.

Here's who has the potential to shake up the debates over housing finance reform, "too big to fail," consumer regulation and other key banking issues in the new year.

American Express is being sued by a West Virginia woman for allegedly engaging in improper debt collection methods.

Bankers are spending so much time complying with new regulations that they're in danger of giving short shrift to actual risk management, says Ingmar Bromstrup, a Principal at The Boston Consulting Group.

A plan to inject $50 million into U.S. Century Bank has reportedly been called off, leaving the undercapitalized Doral, Fla., bank in limbo.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on Tuesday defended his decision not to prosecute JPMorgan Chase for allegedly facilitating Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, calling a deferred-prosecution agreement and monetary penalty an "appropriate" resolution of the bank's alleged failings.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau could consider expanding exemptions for small lenders from its qualified mortgage rule after it goes into effect on Friday, according to Richard Cordray, the agency's director.

Despite the risks, lenders have calculated that certain loans that fall outside of QM are worth making and holding on their balance sheets.