Regulation

Four House lawmakers announced Thursday that they had formed a bipartisan group to focus on "the new and innovative technologies in the payments industry."

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a contentious policy Thursday allowing customers to describe their banking experiences more fully on the agency's complaint portal.

If successful, Provident Bank in Massachusetts and Cincinnati Federal in Ohio would become the first new mutual holding companies since 2011, giving some hope that the structure could make a comeback.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen acknowledged Wednesday that there was little the central bank could directly do to change the culture at big banks caught up in market manipulation and other scandals. She also defended the Fed against calls to change its structure.

As lawmakers consider federal notification and information-sharing measures, a state official expressed jurisdictional concerns about creating national standards.

The House Financial Services Committee renewed its look at regulatory relief for small financial institutions Wednesday, pressing bankers and credit union representatives for details about their compliance burdens.

Payment solutions provider Global Payout has designed an electronic, closed-loop payment system to address the challenges faced by the medical and recreational marijuana industries.

Hoping to deliver relief to Americans pounded by the financial crisis, the government has poured billions of dollars into NeighborWorks America, a sort of Red Cross for homeowners. But a close look at the group reveals a house in disorder — with sweetheart contracts, document fudging and unexplained departures of top officials.

When financial firms emphasize the need to put customers first, they offer employees a simple way to navigate daily dilemmas while short-circuiting self-interest and tribal behavior.

There is no guarantee that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will remain profitable in the years ahead, raising the possibility of further draws from Treasury, according to a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency's inspector general.