Policy & Regulation

The objectives of a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rule requiring financial institutions to collect “beneficial ownership” details are laudable, but the regulation can be subverted by unscrupulous customers.

The two institutions had to change their names after a law passed in the Hawkeye State that forbid CUs from using a state university in their names.

With control of the House changing hands in January, credit unions are set to shift their focus from regulatory relief to cybersecurity and fighting CRA.

A proposal allowing more lenders to skip outside appraisals could remove a hurdle to quick closings, but appraisers say they could be collateral damage.

The tech giants, along with Apple, PayPal and others, are calling on the Federal Reserve to build a backbone for real-time payments, rejecting large banks’ claims that the task is best left to the private sector.

The current deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Pam Patenaude, will step down in January.

In a rare move, Maryland Financial is voluntarily liquidating after its customer base shrank and efforts to sell itself failed.

As Congress races to fund the government, a criminal justice reform bill could also include the STATES Act, which would provide safe harbor for credit unions serving the legal marijuana industry.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has gotten the ball rolling for financial technology firms trying to operate a national platform, but the FDIC and Federal Reserve should act to remove other policy roadblocks.

Despite continued growth and regulatory victories, this year saw challenges on a number of fronts that could have lingering – and even negative – consequences for the industry in 2019 and beyond.