Enforcement

A top Wells Fargo executive and a former employee painted very different pictures of the culture and oversight at the San Francisco bank during a hearing by a California Assembly committee on Tuesday that probed the opening of 2 million phony accounts.

The ramifications for a U.S. Court of Appeals decision against the CFPB’s constitutionality go far beyond just the agency’s independence, and may have consequences for other federal agencies with similar structures. The ruling may also hamper the CFPB’s powers, including its ability to retroactively apply new rules.

More top executives at Wells Fargo will report to President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Sloan, the company announced Monday, a move that comes amid the ongoing fake accounts scandal that has led to calls for the resignation of Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf.

If Wells Fargo employees were fired for trying to stop the bank’s improper account practices, as has been claimed in court, it shines a spotlight on the need for more whistleblower assistance.

Fourteen senators including Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Loretta Lynch calling for the Justice Department to investigate possible criminal wrongdoing by senior executives at Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo, the lender grappling with a scandal involving unauthorized customer accounts, had its outlook lowered to negative from stable by Fitch Ratings.

A Morgan Stanley unit was accused by Massachusetts officials of forcing its financial advisers into high-pressure sales contests to cross-sell so-called securities-based loans and other products to clients.

Chicago Treasurer Kurt Summers plans to divest $25 million the city has invested with Wells Fargo after the company admitted to opening potentially millions of bogus client accounts, joining state officials who have pulled business from the bank because of the scandal.

While the Wells Fargo scandal might offer marketing opportunities for community banks, there is concern about regulatory fallout that fails to distinguish between large and small banks.

U.S. Bancorp has agreed to settle a lawsuit that claimed it neglected to maintain foreclosed properties in Southern California after the 2008 financial crisis.

Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf's two disastrous appearances on Capitol Hill have fueled calls for him to resign — and many analysts are wondering whether the embattled executive will be able to keep his job.

BB&T Corp. has agreed to pay $83 million to settle a Department of Justice investigation over loans that failed quality control tests but were still insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposal not only requires lenders to determine a borrower's ability to repay, but also forces creditors to follow the bureau's approach to making that determination.

Three Democratic senators led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Wells Fargo and senior officials violated laws by misleading investors and firing whistleblowers while the bank oversaw the creation of 2 million phony accounts.

The Department of Justice wants banks to more fully cooperate with civil investigations. Companies now are expected to "materially assist" the agency in providing documents, access to witnesses and even inculpatory documentary evidence such as emails and text messages.

Since John Stumpf's appearance before the Senate Banking Committee last week, the situation has become even worse for the Wells Fargo CEO, with new lawsuits filed, the Labor Department opening an investigation and the CFTC fining it for an unrelated action. Here's what to expect when Stumpf appears in the House on Thursday.

The Department of Labor said Tuesday it is launching a probe into whether Wells Fargo violated labor laws by instituting stringent sales quotas — practices that led to a $190 million settlement with federal regulators earlier this month.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday fined a large auto title lender $9 million for failing to disclose the terms and costs of its title loans in three states, and for illegally exposing consumers' information to their employers.

Park National in Newark, Ohio, has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that its loan-loss accounting underplayed credit problems at a troubled acquisition.

Lisa McDougald, the deputy general counsel at the $222 billion-asset BB&T in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Leon Holschbach, chief executive at Midland States Bancorp, a $3 billion-asset company in Effingham, Ill., were appointed to the board this summer.