Regulations & Policy

CFPB sues MoneyLion, alleging Military Lending Act violations

The fintech required customers to join a membership program to access its low-APR installment loan product, but wouldn’t let members cancel their memberships until their loans were paid, the bureau said.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 30, 2022

Barclays takes $361M penalty in debt-product oversale error

The bank failed to establish internal controls related to tracking its securities sales in real time, the SEC said. The penalty marks the second nine-figure settlement the bank has reached with the SEC this week.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 30, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

Fraud and AML in banking

ESG is the latest silo to face fraud-related scrutiny from regulators. Meanwhile, the SEC is staffing up its cyber unit to fight a potential uptick in crypto fraud.

By Banking Dive staff

6 largest US banks to join Fed’s first-ever climate scenario exercise

The “exploratory” analysis will launch in early 2023 and be separate from bank stress tests, the Fed said, adding it will not have capital or supervisory implications.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 29, 2022

Lakeland Bank to pay $13M in DOJ redlining settlement

The settlement comes one day after Provident Bank said it would acquire Lakeland in a $1.3 billion all-stock transaction. Provident disclosed Tuesday it was aware of the pending settlement when agreeing to the deal.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 29, 2022

Trade groups sue CFPB over new anti-discrimination policy

The bureau should have requested comment on a proposed rule aimed at combating discrimination in banking before implementing such a change, groups such as the ABA, CBA and U.S. Chamber of Commerce said.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 29, 2022

Digital banks, credit unions should factor into merger reviews: Fed’s Bowman

Potential combinations should hinge on risk analysis, not deposit market share, in an update to 1995 guidelines, the central bank governor said Wednesday.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 29, 2022

CFPB fines Regions $191M on overdraft practices

The bureau demanded Regions pay $141 million in redress to customers and a $50 million penalty over “authorized-positive” fees the bank charged related to the order in which it posted transactions.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 28, 2022

SEC, CFTC fine 11 banks $1.8B in record-keeping probe

Bank of America took the heaviest combined penalty, at $225 million, over the use of unapproved platforms for business communications. Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and four others were fined $200 million.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 28, 2022

Deutsche Bank settles for $26.3M over Jeffrey Epstein, Russian oligarch ties

The 2020 suit claimed that bank executives and management routinely overruled compliance staff to continue working with the high-risk and ultra-rich, like Russian oligarchs and people associated with Mexican drug cartels.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 26, 2022

Bank CEOs defend Zelle in Senate hearing

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, called the peer-to-peer payments network “unsafe,” claiming Zelle users were defrauded out of $500 million last year.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 23, 2022

Citi sets LGBTQ+ representation goal among renewed diversity push

The bank also aims for women to fill 43.5% of its roles from assistant vice president to managing director by 2025, along with higher targets for Black and Latinx representation, Citi said this week.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 22, 2022

Republicans grill bank CEOs on handling of new merchant gun code

GOP lawmakers, during a wide-ranging hearing Wednesday, demanded the CEOs of the nation’s top banks share how they plan to respond to a new category code for gun and ammunition retailers.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 22, 2022

Chicago mayoral candidate proposes public bank

The bank would start with $500 million in assets, with half coming from the city’s “cash on hand.” The rest could come from federal stimulus funds, or the Illinois General Assembly could be asked to “match funds.”

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 21, 2022

Diversity, inflation, payments fraud to take center stage at hearings

Democratic lawmakers are expected to grill big-bank CEOs this week on reports of consumer abuses, while Republicans will likely target executives they say have caved to social pressures.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 20, 2022

Did a $94M Wells Fargo settlement get lost in saturation?

Maybe observers can only digest one eight- or nine-figure judgment in a single news cycle. Or maybe the bank wants to enter fiscal 2023 with a cleaner slate.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 19, 2022

M&T-People’s United conversion issues draw AG scrutiny

Some customers have been unable to access online banking following M&T’s conversion of People’s United accounts over the Labor Day weekend, Connecticut's attorney general wrote last week in a letter.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 19, 2022

Fed approves Allegiance-CBTX merger

The green light comes three weeks after the banks extended the deal’s timeline. The Houston-area banks now expect the transaction to close around Oct. 1, with integration estimated for the first quarter of 2023.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 16, 2022

Biden administration releases digital asset regulation framework

The Biden administration wants the SEC and the CFTC to “aggressively pursue investigations and enforcement actions against unlawful practices in the digital assets space.”

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 16, 2022

Texas bank settles with DOJ over PPP lending allegations

In the first False Claims Act settlement by a Paycheck Protection Program lender, Houston-based Prosperity Bank will pay more than $18,000 to resolve allegations it knowingly processed a PPP loan for an ineligible business.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 15, 2022

Wells Fargo agrees to third-party racial-equity audit

CEO Charlie Scharf called the move “a critical next step” toward closing the wealth gap, and added that diversity, equity and inclusion are “imperative” at the bank.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 14, 2022

SEC fines BNY Mellon, TD, Jefferies on muni bond violations

The penalties are for less than $1 million each, but the findings prompted the agency to probe other firms' reliance on the limited offering exemption.

By Dan Ennis • Sept. 13, 2022

FINRA fines Bank of America $5M on OTC options violations

The bank did not admit wrongdoing but said it has enhanced its platform to include data quality checks.

By Gabrielle Saulsbery • Sept. 13, 2022

OCC taps NYDFS veteran for top climate risk role

Yue Chen had served as the inaugural executive deputy superintendent for climate at the New York agency. Acting Comptroller Michael Hsu said last week the OCC would soon name new climate leadership.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 13, 2022

U.S. Bank program helps student-athletes navigate new NCAA rule

The bank is partnering with social media marketing platform Opendorse on a curriculum that covers budgeting, taxes and financial planning in light of a shift that allows student-athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 12, 2022

Citi wins appeal on $500M Revlon loan blunder

“Put simply, you don’t get to keep money sent to you by mistake unless you’re entitled to it anyway,” one judge wrote in his opinion.

By Anna Hrushka • Sept. 9, 2022