Law and legal issues

The Federal Reserve announced it had approved the merger, marking the final regulatory hurdle the banks needed to clear. But a lawsuit seeking to stop the deal is still ongoing.

San Diego County Credit Union and California Coast Credit Union, which last year announced plans to merge, are now duking it out in court. SDCCU alleges there are widespread compliance problems at Cal Coast, which Cal Coast denies.

Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought agreed to request $145 million in funding from the Federal Reserve, yielding to a court order to avoid a contempt citation.

The Senate allowed the nomination of a permanent director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to lapse, giving acting Director Russell Vought more time to lead the agency on a temporary basis.

The bank fired a manager for originating suspicious loans but later asked the SBA to forgive them, prosecutors say. The case ended in a $7.7 million settlement.

The deal still faces a lawsuit from activist investor HoldCo Asset Management, which contends that Comerica didn't properly shop itself before agreeing to sell to Fifth Third.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said the administration must request funds from the Federal Reserve, rejecting a Trump DOJ legal theory.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will face an existential crisis in 2026 between the Trump administration's efforts to shut down the agency and the employee union and consumer advocates who want to stop them.

The bank regulator is proposing to strengthen national preemption in the wake of conflicting decisions in related court cases.

A group of 22 Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit against acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought, the bureau and the Federal Reserve, arguing that the administration's position that the CFPB cannot be funded is wrong.

Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended approval of Fifth Third's $10.9 billion proposed acquisition of Comerica.

Terron T. Brown used stolen mail and social media recruits to defraud banks such as PNC and Bank of America of millions, highlighting a rising industry threat.

A federal appeals court agreed to have the full bench rehear arguments by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's union about whether the Trump administration planned to gut the agency through mass firings.

The Department of Justice wants Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to state if the central bank is profitable again and can, therefore, fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

HoldCo Asset Management says that shareholders should reject Fifth Third's proposed acquisition of Comerica during a Jan. 6 vote due to what it calls an "unacceptable" negotiation process and the possible upside from another deal.

The DOJ says the Ukrainian national helped coordinate Russian state-sponsored DDoS attacks against banks internationally.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to issue an interim final rule soon on consumer financial data rights because the agency expects to run out of money by Dec. 31.

A federal court cannot modify a preliminary injunction to compel the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to request funding for the agency, the Department of Justice said.

Democratic senators are calling for Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott to compel the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to testify.

In oral arguments held Monday morning, a majority of Supreme Court justices seemed poised to overrule a 90-year-old precedent validating multimember independent commissions, but it remains uncertain what limits — if any — the court may impose on the president's removal powers.