Law and regulation

The Federal Reserve is asking the payments industry for input on securing faster payments processing.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray has revived an ongoing dispute between banks and fintech firms over screen scraping, a method certain companies use to obtain access to consumer bank records.

The piling on at Wells Fargo has reached an unprecedented level, even for a bank. Fifteen investigations are underway into Wells' phony account openings. Experts are quantifying the damage to Wells' reputation and what the bank can do going forward to repair it.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will require underperforming servicers to document the technology and process changes they're making to implement the agency's recently released servicing regulations.

Neither bank regulators nor banks' risk managers can afford to wait until rating agencies downgrade Deutsche before understanding the level of exposure they have to the German bank giant.

Fannie Mae is planning to provide relief to lenders from potential buybacks for loans in which the borrower's income, assets and employment information have been validated through automated underwriting.

When the San Bernardino shooter obtained a loan online, he reportedly used his real name, which wasn't on the government's sanctions-screening list, underscoring the limitations of identity verification technology.

Wells Fargo appears to have offered two different reasons for why it failed to inform investors about the investigation into 2 million phony accounts. That could play a role into whether the Securities and Exchange Commission files charges against the bank for disclosure violations.

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency plans to publish Wednesday a document outlining findings on regulating fintech.

In a statement of support for fintech companies that rely on screen scraping of bank websites, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray said he was "gravely concerned" about the decision of certain banks to block third-party access to consumer data.

David Stevens, the chief executive and president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, revealed Monday that he has been diagnosed with cancer in prepared remarks at the association's annual conference in Boston.

Based on questions from appellate judges on Monday morning, MetLife appears to be facing an uphill fight to defend a lower court ruling that found federal regulators erred in designating the firm as a systemically important financial institution.

Lenders will get a reprieve from the threat of some mortgage-related penalties under a new program announced by housing-finance giant Fannie Mae on Monday.

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has named Charles M. Steele, a former counsel at Davis Polk & Wardwell, as its new deputy chief counsel.

WASHINGTON — A cybersecurity information-sharing group for the financial services industry has moved forward with a plan to create an arm dedicated to combatting threats to the largest banks.

Corporate culture is difficult to define and document. But bankers have a responsibility to set high ethical standards in the way they pay and promote their employees, according panelists at a New York Fed conference Thursday.

Federal Reserve Gov. Daniel Tarullo defended regulators' item-by-item approach toward reining shadow banking activities, saying broader moves could be insufficiently tailored to the conditions of specific firms and activities.

Even if the cross-selling scandal is unique to Wells Fargo, banks nationwide will need to prepare for added regulatory scrutiny. Here's how.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

Mary Mack is beginning damage control as she overhauls Wells' sales culture; Dorothy Savarese talks diversity of bank sizes as she becomes chairman of the ABA; and Elizabeth Warren implores the president to demote Mary Jo White. Also, industry manbassadors talk work-life balance and the importance of flexibility for women as Visa's CEO resigns to devote more time to family. And a couple of small activist firms are taking on gender bias at the world's largest companies.