Diversity and equality

New rules on shareholder submissions of proxy proposals could help banks fend off demands to disclose more pay data, cut financing to fossil fuels companies and adopt other reforms.

The Bond Buyer's Rising Stars Week continues as three members of the newly minted class -- Moody's Investors Service senior analyst Adebola Kushimo, Stifel director Roberto Ruiz, and Fieldman, Rolapp & Associates senior vice president Rachel Chang-Kwei -- join moderator Andrew Belinfanti-Knight, a managing director at UBS and a member of the inaugural Rising Stars class of 2016, for a discussion on diversity and inclusion in municipal finance.

The bar to prove discriminatory patterns is so high that plaintiffs would have slim odds of winning lawsuits against housing providers.

The initiative, backed by Vice Chairman Anne Finucane and Chief Operating Officer Tom Montag, is Bank of America’s eighth environmental, social and governance-themed bond.

The American Association of Bank Directors is setting up an on-the-job training program to help banks reach a younger and more diverse group of prospective employees.

During a Senate Banking Committee hearing, the Massachusetts Democrat asked Powell what the Fed is doing to reduce inequality along economic lines in the U.S.

Bostic, the first Black Fed president in the central bank’s 106-year history, said systemic racism is an economic as well as a moral issue.

Bankers should cast a wider net for applicants and hold listening sessions with their minority employees if they truly want equality.

The agency’s report on mortgage data submitted by lenders identified persistent disparities between white borrowers and minorities in denial rates and pricing. Some observers say the bureau should have been more explicit as the nation wrestles with systemic racism.

An international coalition led by Bank of America chief Brian Moynihan has proposed a framework for assessing how well big corporations are meeting the environmental, social and governance expectations of investors who value stakeholder capitalism.

Square is moving to help minority and underserved groups by investing $100 million in nonprofit financial institutions and Black-owned businesses.

The percentage of institutions in the Best Credit Unions to Work For rankings that provide formalized diversity training continues to rise each year, reflecting a growing awareness of the issue within the industry.

The company has been experimenting with ways to recruit more women and minorities, including a program to hire professionals who had left banking. But CEO Charlie Scharf’s reference to “a very limited pool of Black talent” for important jobs may make it harder for Wells to meet inclusion goals.

The fund will support Community Development Financial Institutions that lend to minority- and women-owned businesses. The Charlotte, N.C., company is the latest big bank to make a large dollar commitment focused on alleviating racial and economic inequality.

Under fire for saying that the potential pool of talent is "limited," CEO Charlie Scharf issued a memo to employees Wednesday acknowledging that his words reflected his own "unconscious bias" and vowing to improve diversity in the bank's leadership.

Citigroup will spend $1 billion over the next three years on efforts to help close the racial wealth gap as it seeks to become an “antiracist institution.”

Wells Fargo's top executive created a firestorm on social media over comments that the bank has had trouble meeting its diversity goals because there isn't enough minority talent.

The future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Fed’s supervisory regime for the biggest financial institutions, reform of the Community Reinvestment Act and a host of other industry-related issues are on the ballot this November.

The final version of the amended rule, like the original proposal, makes fair-lending claims tougher to prove. But it does soften language that otherwise might have allowed mortgage companies to use algorithms to prove nondiscrimination.