Diversity and equality

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's overhaul of its Qualified Mortgage standard is alarming free-market advocates who say it will precipitate a return to easy credit and higher defaults and could disproportionately harm minorities.

Jane Fraser, who in February will become the first female CEO of a Wall Street bank, said during a Women in Banking event hosted by American Banker that she will be “the first of many, many more” to come.

Television executive Ryan Glover, rap star Killer Mike and civil rights icon Andrew Young have launched a digital bank for Black and Hispanic consumers called Greenwood Financial.

The company says it plans to originate 40,000 mortgages for Black and Hispanic households and finance 100,000 affordable rental units over five years.

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.

The agency’s report on mortgage data submitted by lenders identified persistent disparities between white borrowers and minorities in denial rates and pricing. Some observers say the bureau should have been more explicit as the nation wrestles with systemic racism.

An international coalition led by Bank of America chief Brian Moynihan has proposed a framework for assessing how well big corporations are meeting the environmental, social and governance expectations of investors who value stakeholder capitalism.

Square is moving to help minority and underserved groups by investing $100 million in nonprofit financial institutions and Black-owned businesses.

The percentage of institutions in the Best Credit Unions to Work For rankings that provide formalized diversity training continues to rise each year, reflecting a growing awareness of the issue within the industry.

The company has been experimenting with ways to recruit more women and minorities, including a program to hire professionals who had left banking. But CEO Charlie Scharf’s reference to “a very limited pool of Black talent” for important jobs may make it harder for Wells to meet inclusion goals.

The fund will support Community Development Financial Institutions that lend to minority- and women-owned businesses. The Charlotte, N.C., company is the latest big bank to make a large dollar commitment focused on alleviating racial and economic inequality.