Enforcement

The CFPB hired Dr. Bernard Siskin three years ago to serve as the agency's expert witness when it brings discrimination cases against lenders. But Siskin has also been hired by JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and other big banks to represent them in bias cases against the CFPB, causing issues for the agency.

WASHINGTON — Fifth Third Bank must pay a total of more than $21 million to settle separate claims by the federal government that the bank's indirect auto-loan business discriminated against African-Americans and that the bank deceptively signed up customers for a credit card add-on product.

It's hard to decide which is more surprising: that the largest U.S. bank has almost abandoned the business of making home loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, that lots of big banks could be right behind it, or that the FHA might not even need to care.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has struggled internally with how to end potential discrimination in auto lending, including debating whether it should cite a large lender in the hopes of effectively ending the ability of partnering dealers to mark up loans with all lenders.

Officials signaled that Hudson City Savings Bank's nearly $33 million settlement over redlining charges is only the first in what is likely to be a string of other cases.

Federal officials on Thursday ordered Hudson City Savings Bank to pay more than $27 million to resolve redlining allegations, the largest order of its kind and one that is likely to put larger banks on notice that redlining cases will be aggressively pursued.

Kelly Cochran has vetted every rule that comes out of the agency, making her one of the most influential people in the financial services industry.

In a series of internal documents that were reviewed by American Banker, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officials repeatedly acknowledge its methodology could overcount the potential discrimination by firms, but say they prefer that to the alternative where bias is underestimated.

One of the top anti-money-laundering regulators warned credit unions Tuesday that many do not appear to be properly following reporting requirements.

License numbers for loan officers, real estate agents and settlement agents will be required on one of the new TILA-Respa integrated disclosure forms, raising questions about whether they could trigger investigations of possible illegal marketing services agreements.

The rest of the credit card industry continues to be dogged by slow loan growth, but retail-branded cards are bouncing back, thanks largely to a big push by merchants.

New York's banking regulator has reached an agreement with four of the banks developing an online message service to store records for potential access by regulators and other officials.

Evans Bancorp in Hamburg, N.Y., has agreed to pay $825,000 to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of mortgage redlining.

The Justice Department's announcement that it would target individual executives at banks and other companies that are being investigated for wrongdoing has sparked a debate about whether the move is actually substantive or instead just designed to boost the agency's public image.

Nearly 20 trade groups representing lenders, banks, credit unions, title companies and others are urging federal regulators to provide guidance on how they plan to enforce a new mortgage disclosure regime that goes into effect Oct. 3.

Two top Justice Department and CFPB officials said this week that they are seeing more instances of redlining and lenders steering minority borrowers into higher-cost loans.

The New York licensing process for virtual currency companies is stoking fears that firms which do apply could inadvertently open themselves up to prosecution.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's enforcement action against Ripple Labs sent a clear message to the cryptocurrency industry about regulators' high expectations for compliance. Such actions will help clear the way for banks to partner with blockchain technology firms down the line.

Ebrahim Shabudin, former chief operating officer and chief credit officer at United Commercial Bank in San Francisco, has been sentenced to 97 months in prison for securities fraud related to the bank's failure.

The Federal Housing Administration is reissuing a loan certification proposal that has sparked industry concerns that it will make it easier for the Justice Department to sue lenders when they file claims for agency-insured loans that go into default.