Legal issues and news

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.

Summit Credit Union in Madison, Wis., has filed what's believed to be the first lawsuit by a financial institution in connection with the massive data breach.

First Green Bank in Florida started researching the business after its chairman saw how medical marijuana had helped his wife cope with a severe injury. The bank is now turning a profit a year after adding its first pot-related client -- and there could be lessons there for credit unions.

The hearings before the Senate Banking Committee have high stakes for both companies, as lawmakers are expected to ask the CEOs whether they should be fired.

The Florida bank started researching the business after Ken LaRoe, its chairman, saw how medical marijuana had helped his wife cope with a severe injury. First Green is now turning a profit on this business a year after adding its first pot-related client.

Unlike a visiting sports team, foreign banks can't just blame local referees they perceive as biased for penalties or fines.

Historically, the industry has placed much greater emphasis on preventing fraud at the point of transaction without doing enough to stop fraudulent account openings, writes Melissa Townsley, co-founder and CEO of GIACT systems.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wells Fargo’s treatment of customers was “egregious and unacceptable," hinting that more regulatory action was likely.

Equifax's data breach may be the most serious, given that it covered 143 million consumers and involved reams of confidential information, but it wasn't the largest. Following are the biggest to date.

A recent failed-bank resolution in Europe may serve as a harbinger of how new authorities could cause problems in the U.S. and highlights the potential need for a modified bankruptcy process.

An internal CFPB memo says it was considering a $10 billion fine before settling on $100 million; state suit against credit bureau is likely to be the first of many.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called for bipartisan action against Equifax during a Senate floor speech on Tuesday, criticizing the credit bureau for waiting several weeks after a massive data breach to reveal it to the public.

Normally tight-lipped about security moves, bankers tell how they are re-examining their systems for Equifax-like flaws and providing new cards, fresh accounts and reassuring advice for anxious customers.

Armed heists are becoming less common, but the overall number of robbery attempts has ticked back up in recent years. The opioid epidemic is a likely reason, according to an industry expert.

Investigation will include possible insider trading by company executives; “broad clampdown” on buying and selling digital currency.

The California company will pay nearly $3 million to address claims it failed to pay employees for overtime.

Without the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's expanding consumers' legal options, they will continue to be vulnerable to the abusive practices that have proliferated throughout the financial industry in recent years.

Senate Democrats' legislative bid to reform the credit reporting industry is tempered and balanced, according to analysts, which could help it gain traction in the GOP-controlled Congress.

Equifax Inc. said two of its senior executives are leaving as the credit-reporting company faces mounting public anger for losing data on 143 million Americans in one of the biggest cyberattacks in history.