Law and regulation

As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposes new small-dollar lending rules, it has also sought comment on an alternative plan that would open the door to banks providing more lower-income credit solutions.

WASHINGTON – Dennis Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, has announced his resignation, effective Feb. 28, 2017.

Wells Fargo & Co. eliminated product sales goals for its consumer bankers as the company seeks to reassure regulators, lawmakers and customers after employees opened card and deposit accounts without clients’ approval.

While the retail lobby won in the political arena and successfully decreased its costs through price-fixing, the biggest loser in this situation was the American consumer.

Banks’ dilemmas around sharing data and embracing open payments technology are becoming a more urgent concern in Europe due to regulatory pressure, and fintech firms are starting to take notice.

Regulators, analysts and investors are likely to take a thorough look at other banks' cross-selling tactics following Wells' settlement with federal agencies for illegally enrolling customers in products and services.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Monday it has ordered Bridgepoint Education to refund $23.5 million for deceiving students into taking out private student loans that cost more than advertised.

Cybersecurity enforcement efforts need to be better coordinated across government agencies, financial industry groups said in a letter Friday to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

In a speech in Washington on Monday, JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said that political divisions between Republicans and Democrats are keeping the country from solving solvable common problems and reaching its economic potential.

Heightened risk management standards and the "three lines of defense" are supposed to help banks ward off scandal, but they failed miserably.

Democratic lawmakers are calling for Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf to testify before a Senate panel as part of an investigation into nearly 2 million fraudulent bank and credit card accounts that Wells employees opened in an effort to meet sales incentives.

The alleged practices at the heart of Well Fargo's settlement were fueled by a short-term incentive system that is detached from broader goals.

The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision – the supervising body for the Basel Committee on banking Supervision -- on Sunday endorsed the broad direction of final Basel III risk-weighted capital rules, including assurances that the final rules would require significant additional capital.

It’s become an all-too-familiar story – a big bank is caught doing something bad, it pays a fine, some lower-level employees are let go while higher-level executives appear to get off scot free and no criminal charges are assessed. Many see that happening again at Wells Fargo.

Marketplace lenders that have partnered with banks face more scrutiny after a federal judge in California handed a legal victory last week to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council has released updated cybersecurity guidance for bank examiners.

In an interview Friday morning, Federal Reserve Gov. Daniel Tarullo said that enforcement agencies and even the Department of Justice need to hold individuals accountable amid revelations that thousands of Wells Fargo employees opened illegal accounts for customers.

Nellie Liang, director of the Federal Reserve's Division of Financial Stability, has announced her retirement after 30 years with the central bank.

The settlement underscored how incentives and sales goals led employees to illegally open new accounts, transfer customer money to the accounts, and create PIN numbers and emails without customers' authorization, regulators said.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council has released updated cybersecurity guidance for bank examiners.