State regulators

A recent court decision allowing New York’s financial regulator to proceed in a case meant to block the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency from offering fintechs a new federal banking charter is having a chilling effect on potential applicants.

Manuel Alvarez, who became commissioner of the Department of Business Oversight on Monday, is the former general counsel and chief compliance officer at the online lender Affirm.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had sought to dismiss the case, but a court ruling suggested that the state regulator’s claim may have merit.

The attorney general told lawmakers that exempting states that have legalized marijuana from the federal ban is better than the current system where state and federal laws are in conflict.

The attorney general told lawmakers that exempting states that have legalized marijuana from the federal ban is better than the current system where state and federal laws are in conflict.

The Evergreen State is the latest to make a push to modernize the rules governing state-chartered credit unions.

Assemblywoman Monique Limon is in the “early stages” of exploring how to create a state-level Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as part of a broader push for more consumer protection for state residents.

The state's financial regulator says Fast Money Loan charged consumers interest rates and fees above the state's usury cap, and operated unlicensed storefronts.

The combined bank would be chartered in North Carolina, with the FDIC serving as its lead federal regulator, N.C. Banking Commissioner Ray Grace says. The merger partners had other options, including the Fed and the OCC.

Digital-asset companies will try to develop a less adversarial relationship with the state's securities regulator, who stopped several startups from selling digital currencies as investments.

Ronald Rubin, who was a CFPB enforcement attorney, will head an office overseeing nearly 200 state-chartered banks.

A group of state regulators has signed off on 14 recommendations, developed by the fintech industry, aimed at streamlining multistate licensing and supervision.

The bureau wants to further remove the threat of legal liability for firms that test products benefiting consumers, but the attorneys general say the agency cannot provide immunity from state law.

The lawmakers said the lack of someone with a state supervisory background among the agency's three inside board seats violates federal law.

Chris D’Angelo, the CFPB's associate director of supervision, enforcement and fair lending, is leaving the bureau after eight years to become a chief deputy attorney general in New York state.

The agency refuted claims by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors that the OCC was overstepping its authority.

Before the financial crisis, federal and state regulators unabashedly pitched their charters to banks as the better choice. That's happening again, despite warnings that such jousting might result in lax oversight.

Denice Schultheiss became director of the Office of Credit Unions in Michigan after John Kolhoff left to lead the Texas Credit Union Commission.

Banks hoping to make working with the cannabis industry easier saw a positive sign this week when Congress removed the prohibition on a less potent substance.

The two institutions had to change their names after a law passed in the Hawkeye State that forbid CUs from using a state university in their names.