Regulatory reform

The lawsuit filed on behalf of the National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders says the rule was based on “an invented evidentiary standard,” and failed to consider consumer protections mandated by Dodd-Frank.

The agency finalized a rule to determine which party in a loan sale is subject to regulatory requirements. Advocates charged that the move will help predatory lenders.

The agency's May rule modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act had deferred action on establishing numeric metrics for meeting the law's requirements, but acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks said banks will soon get more clarity in a follow-up proposal.

The legislation would help institutions with less than $15 billion of assets avoid regulatory requirements resulting from participating in the small-business relief program.

USAA Federal Savings Bank’s downgrade shows how customer mistreatment stemming from flaws in internal controls can hurt Community Reinvestment Act scores. Some want consumer compliance to carry more weight in the CRA calculus.

The credit union regulator has held back in allowing the use of derivatives but has released a proposal that would remove red tape for some larger institutions.

Regulators in the spring temporarily eased a key benchmark of balance-sheet strength to allow institutions to help customers navigate the pandemic, but Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Randal Quarles said it would be “premature” right now to suspend it for good.

House Democrats’ antitrust reform plan intended to rein in companies like Amazon and Google could help level the regulatory playing field between the banking industry and its digital competitors. It could also revive calls to break up financial behemoths.

Kathy Kraninger’s job status would be in question if Joe Biden wins the White House. If the president is reelected, she may continue balancing a deregulatory agenda with her unexpectedly tough stance on enforcement.

The central bank issued a proposal aligning recent stress testing changes with supervisory standards that are tailored to an institution's size and complexity.

New research reveals the financial services industry both prefers and predicts an incumbent win in November.

The news media investigation of transactions by nefarious actors puts certain large banks in a negative light, but it also points to inefficient use of suspicious activity reports and other anti-money-laundering issues that the industry has decried for years.

With lawmakers weighing changes to Bank Secrecy Act requirements, the Government Accountability Office urged the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to establish written policies for expanding use of the agency’s database.

The future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Fed’s supervisory regime for the biggest financial institutions, reform of the Community Reinvestment Act and a host of other industry-related issues are on the ballot this November.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is seeking to create a better-defined standard for effective AML compliance programs and is considering whether to impose formal requirements that banks assess their laundering risk.

The agency finally detailed how it may implement congressional requirements to collect information on credit to small businesses. Lenders below certain asset thresholds and that make few business loans could be off the hook.

Legislation favorable to the industry would be unlikely to pass in a divided Congress, but the biggest benefit for banks and credit unions of Republicans' retaining control of the chamber would be defending against the disruption of a Democratic blue wave.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks’ focus on allowing fintech firms into the federal banking sphere appears to have a more ambitious and risky goal: redefining the agency’s regulatory focus.

The financial industry has praised the measured approach taken in a pending regulation on permitted communications with consumers. But two recent complaints by the bureau against debt collectors reflect a potentially aggressive enforcement stance.

Even though financial institutions have "slightly" stepped up assessments of diversity practices, "we are not satisfied with the level of responsiveness,” a senior Federal Reserve official said in congressional testimony.