Legal issues and news

The San Francisco fintech made its name in refinancing student loans. Now it contends that a moratorium for federal student debt payments — put in place near the start of the pandemic — has cost it at least $150 million in profits.

The Ohio-based bank concentrated most of its lending branches in majority-white neighborhoods and did nothing to compensate for its lack of physical presence, the DOJ claims.

The only way for Fincen to assure that banks have the tools to identify illicit shell companies is for the agency to verify the information in its new beneficial ownership database.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra says the bureau is continuing with its enforcement agenda and that financial firms face risks from the Supreme Court case.

Charlie Javice claimed in a court filing that she was being scapegoated for the bank's faulty due diligence and that it was JPMorgan that asked her to come up with "synthetic data" on Frank users.

The Minneapolis company previously disclosed an investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in connection with its management of prepaid cards for unemployment benefits during the pandemic. Now the bank says the agency is considering a potential enforcement action.

More than 50 million people are caught up in modern slavery, according to the U.N. Hidden crimes like human trafficking and elder abuse are more common than most people think. Ian Mitchell at The Knoble, who led crime detection at several financial institutions, works with banks to find signs of abuse and help law enforcement to help victims and catch perpetrators, including among Super Bowl crowds.

Toronto-Dominion Bank is on the hook for $1.2 after settling litigation over its connection to a massive Ponzi scheme, and Independent Bank Group in Texas agreed to pay $100 million. A third bank, HSBC, settled for a smaller amount.

Under the new policy, firms that come forward with misconduct before it becomes known to the public or prosecutors and then fully cooperate will receive "significant benefits" in any resulting deal, federal prosecutors in New York say.

The high court's inevitable decision on the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure will tell us a lot about how radical the court is willing to be.