Enforcement

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.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit this week against a Van Nuys, Calif., credit repair company for deceptively marketing its services and charging consumers illegal fees.

A compliance-at-all-costs mentality, which is the overarching attitude in many banks, results in overspending and overallocating valuable resources to meet both real and perceived compliance standards.

An independent chairman could uncover or minimize damage from fraud while also meting out punishment more impartially after the fact. The longtime corporate governance argument has new legs in light of the account scam at Wells Fargo, whose board is led by CEO John Stumpf.

Despite several attempts over the past two weeks, Wells Fargo has been unable to quell the furor surrounding revelations that thousands of employees opened millions of phony accounts. Here's why.

The Wells Fargo scandal is more reason for officials to tighten policy on anti-tying measures to put a stop to overly aggressive sales methods.

John Stumpf may have hoped that Tuesday's hearing on Capitol Hill would mark a key turning point in Wells Fargo's blossoming scandal, but his harsh questioning by lawmakers — and his struggle to answer many of their questions — suggests that the embattled megabank's problems are just beginning.

Policymakers repeatedly said during a Senate Banking hearing Tuesday that Wells' mistakes couldn't be blamed — as the company maintains — just on rogue employees. Instead, they see a cultural problem at the San Francisco bank and wonder whether it extends beyond Wells Fargo.

All eyes will be on Well Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf on Tuesday as he fights to defend himself before a Senate Banking Committee hearing against charges that he and other top bank executives should have earlier detected and stopped millions of phony accounts from being opened.

Still smarting from criticism after it failed to prosecute any high-level executives following the financial crisis, Justice Department investigators are likely to target senior executives at Wells Fargo as they investigate wrongdoing there, according to former DOJ officials.

John Stumpf was coasting toward a carefully planned retirement. But the outcry over sham accounts at the San Francisco bank has put him in a precarious position as he testifies in front of Congress next week.

The revelation of widespread fraud at Wells Fargo branches suggests that no matter how well run a large bank appears to be, it can't detect systemic problems within its own ranks.

Regulators, analysts and investors are likely to take a thorough look at other banks' cross-selling tactics following Wells' settlement with federal agencies for illegally enrolling customers in products and services.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Monday it has ordered Bridgepoint Education to refund $23.5 million for deceiving students into taking out private student loans that cost more than advertised.

It’s become an all-too-familiar story – a big bank is caught doing something bad, it pays a fine, some lower-level employees are let go while higher-level executives appear to get off scot free and no criminal charges are assessed. Many see that happening again at Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo’s reputation as a consumer-friendly bank suffered a significant blow Thursday after it agreed to pay $190 million to settle charges that thousands of employees created unauthorized bank and credit card accounts for customers in order to collect bonuses for themselves.

Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $187.5 million to settle claims by federal regulators that the megabank wrongfully opened unauthorized bank and credit card accounts for more than 2 million customers.

Without incentives to shoot higher, banks usually settle for "Satisfactory" on their Community Reinvestment Act exams, but many find that not getting a better grade has consequences.