Diversity and equality

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is investigating allegations that the real estate appraisal standards written by the Washington nonprofit perpetuate discrimination.

The fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets has commissioned an outside law firm to assess its diversity practices. Wells had previously resisted a shareholder proposal that would have authorized a similar review.

Over the course of 10 years, the bank's Disability Advocacy Network has implemented other initiatives to improve interactions with staff members and customers with disabilities or cognitive disorders.

Sarver, who owns the NBA's Phoenix Suns and the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, is facing a one-year suspension and a $10 million fine after an investigation found evidence of workplace misconduct. The Arizona bank where Sarver previously served as chairman and CEO is also discussed in an investigative report released Tuesday.

The Biden administration's Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity Task Force is working to eliminate race-based bias in the assessment of home values.

By offering financial education through local crisis centers and community groups — and following through with access to credit — many credit unions are building trust with people who had been wary of working with mainstream institutions.

Financial downturns hit lower-wealth communities first and cause them to suffer the longest.

Earlier this year, canvassers visited branches in five California counties to ask about account options. Some 37% of those who spoke Spanish were unable to talk to a banker, compared with 15% of English speakers, according to a report by the Roosevelt Institute.

Community development financial institutions that are led by people of color will receive the capital, which is being distributed through the National Alliance of Latino CDFI Executives and the African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs, according to BofA.

New policies, aided by partnerships with local organizations, are helping credit unions make significant progress on DEI.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who lobbied hard for President Biden to forgive $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower, said his much smaller plan can still address racial and gender wealth inequality and help tame inflation.

Goldman Sachs Group faces a June 5 trial in a long-simmering gender-bias class action alleging the bank discriminated against thousands of women in pay and promotion.

For a government agency that prefers to move gradually, the change at the top has come fast, thanks in large part to increased pressure in the wake of a national reckoning around diversity. But it has also fallen short in some ways.

Younger and more diverse leaders may better represent the local community. But bringing new people into the board room requires persistent and targeted outreach.

BMO Financial is expanding its efforts to recruit "underleveraged" job candidates among families fleeing war and hunger abroad. Refugees offer businesses diverse skills and have lower turnover rates than typical North American workers.

Through unconscious bias assessments, analysis and industry partnerships, financial institutions are working to meet the diverse needs of current and future talent.

For too long, Community Reinvestment Act enforcement has relied on income to serve as a proxy for race. This must stop.

The San Francisco megabank plans to reinstate guidance that drew scrutiny following revelations that women and nonwhite candidates were interviewed for jobs that had been reserved for someone else.

Monetary policy has a more significant impact on spending of U.S. households headed by white women than on those led by white men or Black men and women, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said.

It is essential to place the central focus on race, to bring nondepository mortgage lenders under the Community Reinvestment Act umbrella and to address bias in home appraisals.