Regulation

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network mismanaged its system for tracking enforcement cases, allowing some cases to expire before the agency had the chance to impose civil money penalties, according to a government watchdog.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit Monday against a Maryland company that allegedly targeted victims of lead paint poisoning and got them to sign away future settlement payments for immediate cash at a deep discount.

Employees at the Treasury Department's Office of Financial Research have raised concerns about racial discrimination and dysfunction at the agency, according to internal documents and videos posted online.

Illegal methods of moving money are just as likely to be low-tech and old school as high-tech and sophisticated. Surveillance methods and processes need to be able to counter both.

A bill looming in Congress would require the Internal Revenue Service to accept electronic transmission of lending-related forms, which could speed up the lending process by days.

Global banking regulators said some U.S. lenders present a bigger risk to the financial system than last year and should face stiffer capital requirements to ward off threats.

Politicians clamoring for the largest U.S. institutions to be broken up have failed to consider the prospect of China acquiring a bigger piece of the American banking system.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has rolled back some of the relief from regulatory restrictions on corporate activities afforded Wells Fargo under federal law before its recent troubles.

Sen. Sherrod Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, sharply criticized Wells Fargo on Friday for failing to respond to questions about the phony-accounts scandal, including when the board and top executives first learned of the illegal sales practices.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has formally appealed an October court ruling that undercut the agency's independent status, arguing that the decision laid out a theory of separation of powers without precedent in case law or the Constitution.