Policy & Regulation

The Federal Reserve Board barred the former Merrill Lynch and Regions Bank employees from the banking industry for life after securing relief loans and grants under false pretenses. The move comes amid a broader crackdown on stimulus fraud.

Senate Banking Chairman Sherrod Brown said he and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are pushing to confirm all four Federal Reserve nominees this week, but doing so will require Republican cooperation.

Mutual institutions, long pillars of underserved communities, now face insurmountable barriers to entry.

Esther George, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, says changes in the office sector and monetary policy pose potential risks to property owners and their lenders.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is the second U.S. regulator to outline strategic planning and other steps banks with more than $100 billion of assets can take to minimize damage from severe weather events and the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., is accusing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of pressuring Equifax, Experian and Transunion into removing most medical debt from credit reports, a move he says would compromise lenders' ability to gauge risk. Democrats, experts who testified at a hearing Tuesday and the CFPB pushed back.

Banks must comply quickly with fast-moving sanctions against the Kremlin and have to spot questionable Russian companies and wealthy individuals. At the same time, some need to deal with settlement risk of trades that involve rubles. Sophisticated data sharing and analysis are making it easier to do the job.

The White House's $5.8 trillion spending proposal to Congress includes more dollars for anti-money-laundering enforcement, Small Business Administration loan guarantee programs and affordable housing financed by community development financial institutions.

Not all reforms are created equal. Only those truly taking a consumer-first approach — such as curtailing fees and allowing for grace periods — will see lasting benefits in customer loyalty, writes the acting comptroller of the currency.

The agency will create a deputy comptroller position responsible for “novel” banking providers, redraw its territories and more closely align its examiner staffs for small and medium-size banks.