Financial crimes

Federal Reserve Gov. Lael Brainard said in a speech Friday that distributed ledger technology — known as "blockchain" — has great potential for the payment system and important markets, but most of those applications are still years away from maturity.

WASHINGTON — The Basel Committee will move forward with its final regulatory capital rules by yearend despite threats from the European Union that its members may choose to ignore the standards out of fear that they might stifle growth.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew on Friday sought to reassure banks they would not be penalized for the unforeseeable consequences of their presence in certain foreign areas, a fear that has driven a trend called de-risking.

As the financial world comes to grips with the news that the European Union has no intention of implementing the final elements of Basel III, observers are scrambling to figure out how much impact the split could have on U.S. banks and global financial stability.

Strategies include developing formal agreements with partners defining the anti-money-laundering requirements and responsibilities that are expected of them.

In a stunning move, the European Union signaled that it will not follow the Basel Committee's recommendations on standardized credit, operational and market risk rules, citing concerns that the direction of the proposals would unduly increase capital requirements and stifle economic growth.

A federal judge has silenced — at least temporarily — a whistleblower who brought charges of misconduct at the parent company of Bank of Internet USA in San Diego.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry provided new details Wednesday about guidance expected soon that will attempt to discourage banks from cutting off relationships with foreign financial institutions in certain parts of the world.

Federal Reserve Gov. Daniel Tarullo laid out a sweeping vision of the future of the central bank's hallmark supervisory stress testing program — a vision that involves major concessions to midsize regionals and puts added pressure of the largest and most systemically risky banks.

As the U.S. prepares to face the results of an evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force for its anti-money-laundering and terrorist financing efforts, there are signs that it might receive a bad grade.

Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen today pushed back against the notion that banks might be "too big to manage", saying that despite concerns raised by the recent scandal at Wells Fargo, there is no inherent reason why large banks cannot meet existing standards of conduct.

WASHINGTON – For the second time, a federal judge has ruled that the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network must withdraw a rule designed to cut off the Tanzanian bank FBME from the U.S. financial system.

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.