Enforcement

Regulators' asset cap on TD Bank for money-laundering violations has cemented the enforcement tool as a supreme cudgel to rein in problem banks, while other tools devised in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis gather dust.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Director Rohit Chopra was stymied for months by a Supreme Court case that put many enforcement actions on hold, but the bureau is making up for lost time.

The Canadian bank is indefinitely prohibited from growing assets at its two U.S. subsidiaries as the result of a sweeping settlement over money-laundering violations. While only the second imposition of such a penalty ever, experts say it will not be the last.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said the action would "close the book" on the agency's investigation into the Sallie Mae spinout.

The Federal Reserve fined a Montana bank for violating the National Flood Insurance Act and issued a cease-and-desist order against a Dallas bank over money-laundering concerns.

Fines levied by the Wall Street regulator have dwindled in recent years.

Robert M. Kowalski was convicted for his role in embezzling tens of millions of dollars from Washington Federal Bank for Savings, which led to the bank's failure in 2017.

Jack Poulsen, the former president of Ericson State Bank in Nebraska, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for bank fraud involving loans to a relative that led to the rural bank's collapse.

Last year, the CFPB referred 18 matters to the Department of Justice and initiated 28 fair lending examinations or targeted reviews, the highest number of such actions by the agency ever.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors issued a cease and desist order against Indiana-based United Fidelity Bank over concerns that the bank was deficient in its board oversight policies.