Opinions

“It wouldn't be unusual” for the Federal Reserve to work alongside private-sector operators in the creation of a U.S. real-time payments system, its chairman said.

Anti-money-laundering regulations are among the most costly, and few criminals get caught. Banks say there’s a better way.

Jelena McWilliams said federal bank regulators have made progress in developing a proposal but acknowledged that the reform process has been slow.

Those that were prohibited from working at federally insured institutions include a former credit union employee who pleaded guilty to money laundering and embezzlement.

Banks submit millions of Bank Secrecy Act filings each year, yet only a fraction are valuable to law enforcement.

Community banks shouldn’t wait for the Fed to create a new real-time payments rail when consumers are already flocking to other options.

Financial institutions welcome regulatory feedback on their fintech offerings, but the industry wants the agency to waive enforcement for approved products.

Among other things, the letter asked the regulators to ease requirements for a new community bank leverage ratio and analyze the impact of the pending CECL accounting change.

In what's being called "one of the largest-ever data breaches of a large bank," Capital One said a Seattle hacker gained access to the personal information of more than 100 million customers; Citigroup plans to cut hundreds of jobs in its global markets division and combine its equity trading and prime brokerage units.

Some believe the administration will delay action on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to avoid any political fallout. Others say the window for reform is closing.