Law and legal issues

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency used "flawed statistics" and misstated the effects of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's arbitration rule on community banks, Director Richard Cordray said Friday.

Bank of America set aside $100 million in its reserves for representation and warranty claims ahead of a pending settlement to resolve legacy mortgage issues.

In an op-ed, acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika argued that allowing consumers to sue financial institutions in class actions would raise credit costs and harm small banks.

The payday lending industry is planning to use the same playbook employed by the financial services industry in its fight against the CFPB's arbitration rule.

Wilmington Trust and some of its executives had been accused of intentionally understating past-due loans in 2009 and 2010.

The trade groups assert credit unions will face long-term costs related to canceling and reissuing debit and cards, as well as dealing with reputaitonal risks and other negative factors

The lawsuit against Navient Corp. demonstrates that despite the recent appointment of more industry-friendly regulators in Washington, financial services companies still face significant legal threats from state capitals.

Wells Fargo executives and directors accused of steering the bank into the worst scandal of its modern history were ordered to defend a lawsuit accusing them of profiting from the creation of millions of fake customer accounts.

Wells Fargo's home state of California passed a law aimed at curtailing the bank's use of closed-door arbitration to shroud complaints from aggrieved customers affected by its scandals.

The bank plans to contact all customers who paid fees for rate lock extensions during a three-and-a-half-year period and to refund any who believe they should not have been charged.

Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan took heat from Senate Democrats, who questioned his fitness for the job, the bank's use of mandatory arbitration clauses and even whether its charter should be revoked.

The workers who have been brought back do not include any of the more than 5,000 employees who were fired for alleged misconduct, according to the company.

The groups argue that the CFPB did not properly conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the rule banning mandatory arbitration agreements and that the final product will harm, not help, consumers.

Readers comment on the ripple effects of the Equifax breach, who benefits from the CFPB's final arbitration rule, gender-related issues in financial services, and more.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika affirmed Thursday that the agency’s fintech charter, if implemented, could be granted to commercial firms like Walmart or Google.

Wells Fargo is extending a 6-year-old fight with a whistleblower, despite a government order to immediately reinstate the former employee.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final rule on arbitration clauses may be bad news for alleged corporate wrongdoers like Equifax and Wells Fargo, but surely for the victims of such wrongdoing — and for consumers, generally — it is good news indeed.

Readers chime in on debates about ILCs, the CFPB’s arbitration rule, the financial services ambitions of tech firms and more.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s final rule on arbitration clauses may be bad news for alleged corporate wrongdoers like Equifax and Wells Fargo, but surely for the victims of such wrongdoing — and for consumers, generally — it is good news indeed.

Democrats have strived to paint recent scandals at Wells Fargo and Equifax as prime examples of why a regulatory rule banning mandatory arbitration agreements should be upheld, but Republicans are not wavering in their campaign to overturn it.