Banking

The Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act became law 10 years ago this week. The law was the culmination of a bipartisan push in Congress to change a system that seemed to encourage bankruptcy filings during a time of prosperity. It is reasonable to ask, a decade later, whether reform worked.

The changes made 10 years ago reduced abusive bankruptcies and made our nation's economy more resilient. If Congress had gone further by regulating attorney fees and increasing penalties for fraud, the economy would be that much stronger.

The reform has returned bankruptcy to its intended function as a last resort for consumers, rather than a way for the wealthy to game the system at everyone else's expense.

Some 75% of chief information officers plan to increase spending on security technology next year, with many anticipating jumps in security budgets of 20% or more.

PacWest Bancorp in Los Angeles reported a higher third-quarter profit, citing new lending and lower expenses.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau backed off some of its initial plans in its final rule requiring lenders to collect more data from mortgage borrowers, but industry representatives warned the agency had not gone far enough.

NCAL Bancorp in Irvine, Calif., has agreed to buy Commercial Bank of California in Los Angeles.

New York's state banking regulator may have set down rigorous guidelines for the Symphony online messaging service. But will the rules actually work, and will other agencies will adopt similar guidance?

Regional banks did a much better job of expanding revenue than their megabank counterparts in the third quarter, but they had to spend more to do so and risk angering investors in a tight-margin environment.

The bureau's proposed standards would drive lenders out of short-term, small-dollar lending, just as the OCC's 2013 rules did. This time, however, there will be few, if any, regulated institutions left to fill the void.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule Thursday that requires lenders to collect more information from borrowers as part of mortgage disclosures.

The CFPB on Thursday finalized a rule to improve information reported about the residential mortgage market, including updates that will reveal more about consumers’ access to mortgage credit.

Wealthy women don’t necessarily think they do well managing their own money, according to a new study by Regions Financial.

The North Carolina company has signed up 70,000 people for its U platform, which debuted last month and could help it pare back its branch network over time. BB&T is already looking to add quarterly credit scores to the portal.

Executives in the mortgage industry must "take a page from the real estate community" and be more active in Washington and their state capitals, said outgoing Mortgage Bankers Association Chairman Bill Cosgrove.

Profits fell at Commerce Bancshares in Kansas City, Mo., in the third quarter, as expenses rose and income from fees and certain securities holdings declined.

Craig Dahl has played a key role transforming the Minnesota company from a local lender driven by fees to one with national lending platforms. He discusses those moves, and the future of banking, in a wide-ranging interview.

The Senate Banking Committee’s top Democrat wants Experian to disclose more information about a data breach resulting in the theft of personal details on millions of T-Mobile customers.

SunTrust Banks in Atlanta has promoted an executive to oversee its consumer banking and wealth management operations

The U.S. might be ahead of the rest of the world in some areas of security, but when it comes to protecting against credit card fraud, we're way behind.