Financial crimes

Attorney General Jeff Sessions made headlines in January when he tightened federal marijuana enforcement. But the good news for financial institutions looking to service the pot industry is that the rest of the government has responded with a shrug.

Wells Fargo gets tipped off by OCC on investigation; HSBC is wading back into U.S. mortgage waters; a bank uses artificial intelligence to combat money laundering; and more.

The measure easily passes with a two-thirds majority; Wells Fargo CEO's pay up by a third, but no cash bonus.

Smaller bank stocks have outperformed the big banks with the prospect of Dodd-Frank rollbacks; Trump “very strongly” pondering TV analyst for adviser role.

American Express Ventures has become an investor in the startup EverCompliant, which helps financial institutions root out e-commerce websites backed by terrorists and drug cartels that are laundering money through payments-processing networks.

OCBC Bank in Singapore has seen a 35% reduction in false positives in its tests of artificial intelligence-based anti-money-laundering software. Other banks could follow its lead, though there are regulatory and customer-protection questions.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group has agreed to pay $500 million to the state of New York after a $5.5B agreement last year with the FHA, and another probe is pending.

The Minneapolis bank has been operating since October 2015 under a consent agreement that stemmed from deficiencies in its efforts to combat money laundering.

California State Treasurer John Chiang, who’s on the boards of the state’s biggest pension funds, was among those who said the changes weren't enough. Chiang also called for CEO Tim Sloan to step down.

Money launderers are opportunists and the real estate sector is a weak link when it comes to regulation, writes Jay Ryan, an executive vice president at Accuity.