Policy & Regulation

Mehrsa Baradaran, a University of California, Irvine, professor and former banking lawyer, has worked hard to close the racial wealth gap and could further such goals as head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, wrote 34 caucus members in a letter to President Biden.

The 30-day extension comes after the American Bankers Association requested additional time to consider the rule's impact.

A federal watchdog agency determined that Almena State Bank's push into government-backed loans, supported with high-cost wholesale funding, set it up for collapse when significant credit issues arose.

By purchasing additional assets and securities, the Federal Reserve provided the financial markets with enough liquidity to weather the pandemic recession. But with the economy starting to recover, it needs to reduce such funding before it creates dangerous bubbles over the long term, say two former bankers.

Democrats have proposed a Congressional Review Act resolution to strike down the OCC rule, arguing it enables "rent-a-bank" schemes.

For banks that pass this year’s stress tests, the Federal Reserve said it will eliminate the restrictions on dividends and share buybacks while subjecting those institutions instead to the stress capital buffer.

Former Obama-era regulators Kara Stein and Sarah Bloom Raskin, as well as Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, have joined the field of potential nominees to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, according to sources familiar with the process.

Complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau jumped 54% to 542,300 in 2020. Concerns about credit reports have long outnumbered those in other categories and jumped significantly as a share of the total from 2019.

Free investment education and testing for risk tolerance are among the ways financial firms can better reach underserved consumers, former SEC chief Jay Clayton and Operation HOPE’s John Hope Bryant say.

Two banking bills signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker carry implications for payday lenders, auto title lenders, credit unions and nonbank mortgage lenders. Pritzker, a Democrat, said the bills will address racial-equity gaps in the state.