Law and legal issues

Past statements by Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should disqualify him from leading the agency, according to New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and 16 other state AGs.

Over 30 current and former Democratic lawmakers filed a new amicus brief Monday supporting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Deputy Director Leandra English to be reinstated as acting director of the agency.

The president's vow to come down hard on the San Francisco bank fans a debate about the independence of regulatory agencies such as the CFPB.

Advocacy groups filed an amicus brief supporting Leandra English’s suit to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, arguing that President Trump's interim pick of Mick Mulvaney was illegal.

The president wrote Friday on Twitter that penalties against the San Francisco bank will be maintained, or possibly strengthened. The comments are likely to fuel a growing controversy about the independence of federal financial regulators.

The agency has suffered a series of setbacks over the past two months, from a rollback of its arbitration rule to a legal battle over its leadership. Here's what happened — and where the agency might lose next.

A federal judge said Tuesday that he will hear motions Dec. 22 in a case that seeks a preliminary injunction against acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Mick Mulvaney and would instead install Deputy Director Leandra English as interim head of the agency.

The former heads of the House and Senate banking committees argued Thursday that the Dodd-Frank Act clearly intended to allow the CFPB's deputy director to serve as acting director after the full-time head of the agency departed.

District Judge Timothy J. Kelly ruled Tuesday that Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney was the legal interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, denying a request by Deputy Director Leandra English to block the appointment.

United Nations Federal Credit Union and two others have consented to pay $1.47 million for offering, marketing and underwriting unlicensed credit and debit card-based life insurance programs.

The trade group wants Equifax to reimburse community banks for costs tied to the massive data breach at the credit bureau this year. The ICBA also wants a court to order Equifax to improve its security measures.

Bay Bancorp shareholders will get the added payouts if the Maryland bank's management settles a lawsuit and addresses a number of bad credits.

HSBC's private-banking unit was fined a record $51 million over sales of structured products linked to Lehman Brothers in Hong Kong.

Policymakers have made significant progress in the assigning of regulatory accountability, but more work is necessary.

During the past year, many have hoped for action from Washington that would alleviate regulatory burden and stem the rapid pace of consolidation. But in the current political environment, that appears increasingly unlikely.

The disagreement is tied to Walnut Street, an entity formed in 2014 to move certain commercial loans out of the bank. Separately, the company is facing a civil money penalty from the FDIC tied to issues with a third-party payment processor.

The HUD secretary’s comment that such use of the False Claims Act was “ridiculous” may delight the mortgage industry but does not bode well for taxpayers or the federal government’s future fraud enforcement efforts.

The Minnesota league follows on the heels of Pennsylvania, Nebraska and the Mountain West CU Association, all of whom joined the suit this week.

Readers weigh in on a blockchain-based credit bureau, react to the CFPB’s arbitration rule and chime in on calls to invest more in women.

CapStar Financial is suing an investor on claims he misled other shareholders and is trying to skirt bank holding company laws.