Financial crimes

Big banks' flirtation with the idea of suing the Federal Reserve Board over its stress testing regime carries significant political risk and even if successful could yield at best a pyrrhic victory over the megabanks' primary regulator.

The Federal Reserve's annual stress testing regime violates federal administrative law, a coalition of banking groups said in a white paper released Thursday, likely previewing a court battle that could have far-reaching consequences for the program.

In an interview Friday morning, Federal Reserve Gov. Daniel Tarullo said that enforcement agencies and even the Department of Justice need to hold individuals accountable amid revelations that thousands of Wells Fargo employees opened illegal accounts for customers.

U.S. prosecutors are considering a criminal charge against a unit of HSBC Holdings Plc related to conduct on its foreign-exchange desk, according to two people familiar with the matter, imperiling an earlier deal that let the bank avoid prosecution.

A breakdown in internal controls at Bank of Princeton almost killed a deal to sell the company to Investors Bancorp.

Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George is best known nationally as a critic of the Fed's monetary policy, but in a wide-ranging interview she talks about Dodd-Frank, bank capitalization and the challenges facing community banking, in addition to interest rates.

WASHINGTON – The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is proposing to extend anti-money-laundering requirements to a limited number of financial institutions that are not already regulated by a federal agency.

WASHINGTON — The American Bankers Association has fired back at a White House research note that argued the Dodd-Frank Act was not driving community bank consolidation.

The New York State Department of Financial Services has fined Mega International Commercial Bank in Taiwan $180 million in connection with allegations that it violated New York’s anti-money-laundering laws.

Investors Bancorp in Short Hills, N.J., has joined the ranks of banks flagged by regulators for Bank Secrecy Act issues.