Enforcement

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week not to review a mortgage-backed securities lawsuit renewed interest in a long-brewing legal conflict over the mandate of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has amassed more than $300 million in so-called "unobligated balances" in its civil penalty fund, driven by a bumper crop of penalties against financial institutions in the past year. Some are questioning why the balances remain so large, year after year.

The Dallas-based subprime consumer lender backed off controversial changes to its method for calculating its quarterly provisions for loan losses, forcing it to revise earnings downward for the last two years. It also announced that it had found more accounting issues.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday ordered a San Diego student debt relief company to shut its operations, cancel all contracts and cease participating in the industry.

Wells Fargo has agreed to pay the state of California $8.5 million to settle a probe into its failure to tell consumers it was recording their calls.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned Wednesday that over using economic sanctions could saturate their potency, driving commerce away from the U.S. and threatening the U.S. dollar's status as the world’s reserve currency.

Freedom Bank in Columbia Falls, Mont., has been released from a consent order that the FDIC and the Montana Division of Banking and Financial Institutions had implemented in December 2009.

WASHINGTON – Four Democratic senators sent a letter on Thursday to federal financial regulators asking for clear guidance on how banks can serve the marijuana industry.

Hackers linked to the Iranian government launched a series of cyber-attacks on U.S. financial institutions including Bank of America Corp. and the New York Stock Exchange, federal prosecutors say.

The former chief executive of a failed bank in Lincoln, Neb., was sentenced to 11 years in prison for forming a scheme to hide more than $100 million in losses from shareholders and regulators.