Policy & Regulation

Interest rate increases by central banks have compounding effects and could exacerbate weaknesses in the global financial system, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard argued in a speech Friday.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has deflected requests from a top critic, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for details of financial transactions by central bank officials, risking an escalation of tensions with lawmakers over disclosure issues.

The report, which examined trends between 2010 and 2021, found that the country's biggest banks only opened 638 branches in low-to-moderate-income communities made up primarily of people of color. That accounts for just 15% of their total branch openings.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency got an earful from housing experts at a listening session intended to aid a comprehensive review of the financing system.

The Federal Reserve, state supervisors and other bank regulators said they would not penalize institutions that work with impacted borrowers following devastating storms in Florida and Puerto Rico.

A federal judge found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau overstated the costs and understated the negative impact of exempting 1,700 financial institutions from reporting Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data.

A half-dozen of the largest banks in the country will participate in the Federal Reserve's climate scenario analysis exercise next year. Findings from the program will inform supervision policies on managing climate and transition risks.

The Alabama bank must pay $191 million in connection with charges it levied on customers whose account balances went negative before a transaction was posted. Seven years ago, the CFPB imposed a $7.5 million overdraft-related fine on Regions.

In a policy proposal published Tuesday, Fed staffers called for supervisory changes to accommodate banks with commercial real estate loans still reeling from COVID.

The amount of money that investors are parking at a major Federal Reserve facility climbed to yet another all-time high as funds sought out places to stash short-term cash.