Law and legal issues

A federal judge said she is inclined to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the Trump administration dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Banco San Juan Internacional argues recent comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell raise questions about the central bank's handling of master accounts.

A Texas judge refused the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's effort to put a lawsuit on hold against Dallas-based Comerica Bank, claiming the stay would "harm Comerica's reputation."

Five Star Bank's parent company denied wrongdoing but said the agreement spares it the uncertainty and expense that might have resulted from a trial.

In a packed courtroom, a federal judge parsed whether the Trump administration's aggressive actions to rein in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are part of a "normal" transition of power or would impede its statutorily required functions.

President Donald Trump's company accused it of illegally "de-banking" him for political reasons by abruptly canceling hundreds of accounts for his real estate business after his first term ended in 2021.

The Trump administration intended to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau through a mass workforce reduction, which could be a smoking gun in a court battle with the bureau's union.

The Internal Revenue Service holds a massive trove of sensitive data about American taxpayers that would be of inestimable value to a company operating in the private sector. Protecting it is a matter of national security.

Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said the Founding Fathers supported independent money management and undoing it now would be a mistake.

Ahead of a court hearing, the top lawyer at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says he ordered supervisory staff to get back to work. But examiners and supervisors are disputing that work is being done, noting that travel credit cards have been cut off.

A coalition of national financial organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief for preemption after regulators filed one against it in a key servicing case.

Consumer advocates MyPath and the Mississippi Center for Justice have been allowed to intervene in a banking industry lawsuit challenging the CFPB's $5 overdraft fee cap for large financial institutions after the bureau declined to defend the rule.

The Biden-era suit against Zelle's parent company and its largest bank parent owners sought to require banks to reimburse consumers for "induced fraud," when a consumer is tricked into sending money to someone under false pretenses.

At a court hearing on Monday, lawyers for the Trump administration said statutorily required work is being done by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, while the union claimed the government is trying to shut the agency down.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's decision to no longer pursue its enforcement action against the credit reporting bureau marks the eighth lawsuit dropped by the agency in recent days.

The union representing Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees said in a court filing that the Trump administration's actions to reduce the agency's workforce and cut spending violate the law.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit against Capital One brought under the Biden administration alleging the bank failed to honor interest rate promises, costing consumers an estimated $2 billion.

Housing finance players accused of wronging consumers slammed the lawsuits as politically motivated efforts by former Biden-era bureau director Rohit Chopra.

The Justice Department said in a legal brief that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will continue to exist, but said instead that the agency will have fewer employees and a reduced budget under the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump's concerted effort to bring the entirety of the executive branch under his direct control defies tradition, and in some cases, likely the law. Banks have thus far voiced little objection, but they should know how critical the rule of law is to their bottom line.