Politics

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued guidance on the use of artificial intelligence in credit underwriting, saying that creditors are relying too heavily on a CFPB checklist and sample forms when they should provide specificity to explain why a consumer is denied credit.

The nine-part guidance establishes best practices for financial institutions that want to pursue carbon-neutral strategies. In a speech, the Treasury secretary cautions firms against being "left behind."

A proposal by Sen. Josh Hawley to cap credit card interest rates deserves to be taken seriously, but requires far more detail than the legislative language provides.

Bankers largely support expanding government-backed farm loan programs, and in general support continued funding for crop insurance. But politics is making swift passage of a traditionally uncontroversial bill challenging.

A recent report by the Office of the Inspector General for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. suggests that while the FDIC's strategic plan for economic inclusion is satisfactory, it could be improved by formalizing procedures, self-evaluations and gathering more input from banks.

The ruling comes in a lawsuit New York Attorney General Letitia James filed in 2020, claiming Jonathan Braun and others made thousands of merchant cash advances to small businesses, charged annualized interest that sometimes exceeded 1,000% and defrauded and harassed borrowers. 

Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said most small businesses will need to report information about their beneficial owners at the start of next year; certain financial and government entities are exempt because of their preexisting regulatory requirements.

In the absence of any federal cover to provide banking services to cannabis businesses, banks have developed strategies to service those customers anyway. But experts are divided on whether that adaptation obviates the need for comprehensive federal legislation like the Secure and Fair Enforcement Act.

The Senate Banking Committee is expected to mark up the Secure and Fair Enforcement Act, or SAFE Banking Act, the week of Sept. 25.

While proponents of a central bank digital currency tout modernity and financial inclusion, House Financial Services Committee members of both parties fear lending could suffer under a digital dollar and are wary of handing the Federal Reserve even more power.

A movement is afoot to transfer the job of the Federal Home Loan banks to the Federal Reserve. This would be a disaster for small lenders.

The impact on things like servicing rights would raise costs even for lenders that aren't banks, according to Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO Bob Broeksmit. Others disagree.

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., pressed one witness to say that bank regulators' Basel III endgame proposal, which would raise capital significantly for the largest banks, may have violated the Administrative Procedure Act.

The Biden administration tapped Adriana Kugler, executive director of the World Bank and a professor at Georgetown, to fill a seat on the Board of Governors that had been vacant since February.

A joint letter from the banking and financial trade groups is the latest effort by the industry and its representatives in Washington to push back against the Basel III capital proposals, which would raise capital significantly for the largest banks.

Any comprehensive overhaul of the Federal Home Loan Bank System will have to navigate a dense thicket of countervailing regulatory and stakeholder priorities.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler told lawmakers that artificial intelligence could be used to game securities transactions in favor of corporate interests over those of investors. Critics say the SEC's plan to combat such conflicts of interest is hostile to technology.

Republican Josh Hawley, the senior senator from Missouri, says he intends to offer legislation that would cap credit card rates at 18%. For a bill designed to go nowhere, it's a surprisingly good idea.

The move comes as independent banks such as Centerview have branched into other areas of advisory like geopolitical and ESG matters.

U.S. lawmakers scrutinizing China said Wall Street executives asked to have their identities withheld when meeting with them so as not to alienate their Chinese investors.