Racial bias

The complaint seeks unspecified damages over the bank’s mortgage origination and underwriting practices, alleging minority homebuyers were excluded from affordable, low-risk loans.

In late July, the Justice Department notified the Houston bank of a potential lawsuit alleging violations between 2013 and 2017, according to a securities filing. Cadence said that its prospective merger partner, BancorpSouth, supports the settlement discussions.

The 2013 rule, which was weakened under the Trump administration, established a comparatively low bar for plaintiffs alleging discrimination.

Under a plan signed into law in March, the agency will first target direct loans that it has made to socially disadvantaged farmers. Guidance that will affect small banks that have made government-backed agricultural loans is due in 120 days.

The lender will expand certain mortgage products, like its HomeRun program, which requires lower down payments and removes mortgage-insurance requirements for lower-income borrowers.

“You all will not let me breathe” is just one example in the CFPB’s complaint database where a consumer likened alleged mistreatment by a financial institution to social injustice. An artificial intelligence firm uses technology to help companies flag such language.

The agency has suggested it could go beyond enforcing fair-lending laws to urge financial institutions to help narrow the wealth gap. But those very same laws pose obstacles to achieving that goal.

Several organizations serving the industry are speaking out following a series of murders in Atlanta.

"On streets, online and in many Asian-owned small businesses, we are seeing physical assault, verbal harassment and refusal of service," JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon wrote in a memo to staff. "These racist acts cannot — and will not — be tolerated."

With a steady stream of Senate hearings held on the racial wealth gap and inequities in the financial system, the new chairman has set a consumer-focused agenda that leans further left than even past Democratic chairs.