Policy & Regulation

Stepped-up scrutiny of Internet payday lenders, online pharmacies and other merchants that regulators and law enforcement view warily is forcing the payments industry to adapt.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Monday announced a partnership with libraries and other federal regulators to provide librarians with unbiased financial literacy education materials.

Barney Frank, Maxine Waters and nine other Democrats urged financial regulators in 2010 to consider Certus' charter as a way to create a large minority-run bank headed by managers of "unquestioned character." That bank's big problems since suggest that, at minimum, the vote of confidence was misguided.

The Federal Reserve's retail payments office announced Monday that it "fully supports" the most recent push within the banking industry to speed up electronic payments.

Regulators announced Monday they would extend the conformance period by two years under the Volcker Rule for banks with legacy collateralized loan obligations, but at least one lawmaker is already saying the agencies should do more.

The National Association of Realtors estimates that the Federal Housing Administration's 1.35% annual premium stopped at least 125,000 renters from buying a home last year.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is facing mounting problems over racial disparities in its hiring and performance evaluation practices, which have drawn criticism and Congressional scrutiny. American Banker reporters discuss what's next for the CFPB and its critics, and what Director Richard Cordray could do to improve his agency's situation.

The payday loan business — loathed by some, misunderstood in others' eyes — stands on the verge of its biggest shake-up ever.

After slogging through several quarters of high expenses and shrinking profits, some lenders are now selling mortgage servicing rights to raise cash to cover payroll and expenses, industry sources say.

Leading bankers and presidents have been tied together over the decades by more than money and power. From the days of Theodore Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan on, blood ties have played a role, too. So says Nomi Prins, whose new book, All the Presidents' Bankers, profiles the close and complex relations at the top of American finance and politics.