Fintech regulations

The Community Reinvestment Act can lower — not increase — bank credit availability in some low-income regions, and the OCC should reconsider holding fintechs to the same standards with its new charter.

To compete with fintech startups, banks need to find more ways to use the mountains of data already at their disposal.

Several states pledged to compensate for a slowdown in enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Mick Mulvaney, but their efforts have been complicated by tight budgets and doubts over whether such initiatives are necessary.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., released a survey of lending practices that he said point to practices such as forced arbitration clauses and extracting a customer’s credit score to determine creditworthiness.

Readers respond to how the industry is donating ahead of the midterms, weigh in on a push to apply CRA-like standards to fintechs, react to a controversial decision by a California court and more.

The Community Reinvestment Act can lower — not increase — bank credit availability in some low-income regions, and the OCC should reconsider holding fintechs to the same standards with its new charter.

All five are Republicans and they include senior House GOP leaders, contenders to head the Financial Services Committee and strong voices in favor of regulatory relief.

The agency’s move to offer a national charter for fintech firms will undermine state authority and give certain firms an unfair advantage.

Capital One's dispute with Plaid raised questions about the ability of banks and aggregators to work together. But the end of that fight, and Capital One's deal with Finicity, show common ground can be reached — eventually.

The agency’s move to offer a national charter for fintech firms will undermine state authority and give certain firms an unfair advantage.

A week after the Treasury Department laid out a plan for federal fintech regulation, it is already unclear which agency is leading the charge.

Earlier this year, the Central Bank of Ireland announced plans to launch a fintech innovation hub, with the intention of engaging with all firms that are delivering innovation across the financial services sector, says Billy Hanley, senior development adviser for Enterprise Ireland.

The bureau announced the creation of the Global Financial Innovation Network for regulators to discuss joint policy work and offer a cross-border product testing process.

The agency’s decision to offer special-purpose charters for fintech companies raises questions about how those institutions will be overseen and the risks they could pose to the system.

The bureau wants to encourage more innovation without the threat of enforcement, but observers say regulators also need a testing ground to prove they can regulate fintech.

The administration’s recent report on fintech innovation discussed ways to adopt electronic promissory notes — or eNotes — and automated appraisals in federal mortgage programs.

The OCC has simplified language detailing how fintech charter applicants will clear requirements for meeting community needs. The move has some consumer groups worried.

Fintech firms have the federal option they have long sought, but meeting the agency’s application requirements will not be easy.

Treasury, OCC want to make it easier to compete with banks; the two banks will sell notes and other products through a broker network.

The decision, unveiled just hours after the Treasury Department endorsed the charter concept, means some fintech firms could soon be regulated more like banks.