Risk management

Still under fire for financing oil-and-gas exploration, banks are now being criticized for bankrolling producers of the single-use bottles and wrappers that are piling up in landfills and waterways. How will they respond to the mounting pressure from environmentalists?

The Biden administration’s yet-to-be-named comptroller of the currency is widely expected to invalidate the GOP-backed measure that bars banks from shunning gun makers, fossil-fuel producers and the like. But another option is to recast it to promote investment in underserved communities.

The enforcement action, which concerned deficiencies in the auto lender’s compliance risk management program, was the last remaining regulatory matter Santander had to resolve.

Citigroup’s incoming CEO, Jane Fraser, created a new global operating team aimed at improving accountability among its top executives, as the firm continues to address a litany of concerns raised by regulators last year.

The Maryland company agreed to improve its risk and compliance controls, estimating that it will cost $2 million to make changes.

The OCC had hit James Strother and other executives with civil charges a year ago in connection with the bank's phony-accounts scandal. His monetary penalty is lower than what the agency had first floated.

Issued in the final days of the Trump administration, the regulation has united banks, gun-control advocates and environmentalists in opposition. It could be blocked by Congress or a comptroller chosen by the new president.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finalized a rulemaking Thursday morning opposed by the industry that forces the largest banks to provide services to gun businesses and other sectors to which banks have curtailed lending.

In the wake of last week's riot at the U.S. Capitol, New York-based Signature is also calling on the president to resign before his term ends next week.

Silicon Valley's largest companies are rapidly distancing themselves from outgoing President Donald Trump, following last week's right wing domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s proposal to ensure banking services are available to polarizing businesses contradicts long-standing guidance on managing reputational risk, big banks argue. But gun makers, energy firms and others say it would correct an injustice.

Demand for buy now, pay later (BNPL) services in the U.S. is surging as cash-strapped consumers welcome the opportunity to get instant loans minus any official credit inquiry.

The company’s noninterest expenses are expected to rise more than $500 million next year, largely because of a revamp of risk management and internal controls mandated by regulators.

A number of reasonable changes to the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund could help NCUA avoid charging premiums.

Some large banks have come under fire from the GOP for curbing services to firms in controversial industries, such as firearms and fossil fuels. A proposal by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency aims to block banks from taking such stances.

New analysis from SentiLink showed that the industry may be more vulnerable to some fraud threats than it realizes.

A former Fifth Third executive recently accused the company of failing to deliver on a promise to make him president because he’s in his mid-50s. The case offers important lessons in hiring and succession planning as the banking industry cuts costs and seeks out younger, digital-savvy managers.

Big financial institutions are worried that online wagers made with credit cards pose a heavy risk of money laundering. The possibility of tougher rules under the incoming Biden administration has only compounded their concerns.

“We’re going to be looking at … what caused us to not be able to close some of these gaps in the past,” Citigroup's new Chief Administrative Officer Karen Peetz says of the effort to fix shortcomings in internal controls that have plagued the company for years.

Smarsh, which enables banks and other clients to archive employee communications, is buying the AI firm Digital Reasoning as employers increasingly seek surveillance options for personnel working from home.