Financial institutions

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can determine nearly anything to be an unfair, deceptive or abusive act or practice, and it's more likely to do so when lenders try to take advantage of regulatory loopholes.

The House Financial Services Committee said Friday it plans to open an investigation into the fraudulent account openings at Wells Fargo and will hold a hearing soon on the issue.

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.

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.

With the risk-taking culture at big banks — including that which contributed to the Wells Fargo fiasco — it's a good thing the House bill to weaken Dodd-Frank will never become law.

New recommendations by the Federal Reserve Board are a crucial step in the direction of much-needed restructuring of the U.S. financial sector.

Chairman Jeb Hensarling's financial reform bill was approved by the Financial Services Committee along mostly party lines as Democrats declined to offer amendments to legislation they said was too flawed to begin with.

With new fintech investments tapering off and banks starting to get the hang of digital innovation, young companies need to take a hard look at their business models.

A fintech startup called Point is allowing consumers sell a piece of their home equity to investors, rather than borrowing against the value of their houses.

Lending Club, which has been rebuilding its executive ranks in the wake of a recent scandal, is hiring Thomas Casey as its chief financial officer.

In a speech in Washington on Monday, JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said that political divisions between Republicans and Democrats are keeping the country from solving solvable common problems and reaching its economic potential.

Democratic lawmakers are calling for Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf to testify before a Senate panel as part of an investigation into nearly 2 million fraudulent bank and credit card accounts that Wells employees opened in an effort to meet sales incentives.

The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision – the supervising body for the Basel Committee on banking Supervision -- on Sunday endorsed the broad direction of final Basel III risk-weighted capital rules, including assurances that the final rules would require significant additional capital.

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.

Nellie Liang, director of the Federal Reserve's Division of Financial Stability, has announced her retirement after 30 years with the central bank.

In response to industry comments, the Federal Reserve said it would follow notice-and-comment procedures when exercising its countercyclical capital buffer authorities – a process whereby the biggest banks would hold an additional capital cushion to counteract overheated markets.

Within five years, a dramatic transformation of the mortgage market will force firms to expand product menus beyond mortgages to develop stronger relationships with their customers.