Policy & Regulation

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday hit Citibank with $8 million in fines and restitution for allegedly selling credit card debt at inflated rates and failing to send consumer payments to debt buyers. Two debt collection firms also were ordered to pay civil penalties for altering the dates and amounts of debt owned by consumers.

The founder and former chief executive of Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust in Coral Gables, Fla., has sued the bank for fraud and breach of contract after it fired him in 2012.

Western Union is at the center of a preliminary antitrust inquiry as European Union regulators examine allegations of collusion to drive rival money-transfer operators out of the multibillion dollar market.

Meaningful rules encouraging Fannie and Freddie to do more with manufactured housing would allow more lenders into the market and make pricing more competitive.

Western Union Co. is at the center of a preliminary European Union antitrust inquiry into allegations the company colluded with banks to drive rivals out of the multibillion dollar money-transfer market.

Bank earnings rose nearly 12% to $40.8 billion in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, boosted by lower litigation expenses at a few large institutions, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday.

The affordable housing market has dried up in major cities across the country. In response, regulators and lenders are looking into new programs to get people back into single-family homes while also exploring ways to encourage multifamily developments.

The Treasury Department will invest an additional $2 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program into a federal fund that seeks to protect homeowners from foreclosure.

Big-bank representatives agree with the concept behind the Fed's "total loss absorbing capacity" proposal but argue that certain provisions are excessive and onerous.

With the stakes so high for compliance officers, their rights and responsibilities should be clearly defined, including a safe harbor for those who play by the rules.