Federal Reserve officials were challenged Wednesday to make big policy changes to combat economic and racial inequality. In response, the presidents of the Atlanta, Boston and Minneapolis reserve banks pledged to shake up some long-held practices.

Any regulator or bank should build from a foundation of diversity, dignity and respect, says Grovetta Gardineer, the agency's head of national bank supervision policy.

New rules on shareholder submissions of proxy proposals could help banks fend off demands to disclose more pay data, cut financing to fossil fuels companies and adopt other reforms.

The Bond Buyer's Rising Stars Week continues as three members of the newly minted class -- Moody's Investors Service senior analyst Adebola Kushimo, Stifel director Roberto Ruiz, and Fieldman, Rolapp & Associates senior vice president Rachel Chang-Kwei -- join moderator Andrew Belinfanti-Knight, a managing director at UBS and a member of the inaugural Rising Stars class of 2016, for a discussion on diversity and inclusion in municipal finance.

The bar to prove discriminatory patterns is so high that plaintiffs would have slim odds of winning lawsuits against housing providers.

The initiative, backed by Vice Chairman Anne Finucane and Chief Operating Officer Tom Montag, is Bank of America’s eighth environmental, social and governance-themed bond.

The American Association of Bank Directors is setting up an on-the-job training program to help banks reach a younger and more diverse group of prospective employees.

During a Senate Banking Committee hearing, the Massachusetts Democrat asked Powell what the Fed is doing to reduce inequality along economic lines in the U.S.

Bostic, the first Black Fed president in the central bank’s 106-year history, said systemic racism is an economic as well as a moral issue.

Bankers should cast a wider net for applicants and hold listening sessions with their minority employees if they truly want equality.