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Artwork from top ten stories week ending Dec. 8, 2017.
OMB Director Mick Mulvaney
Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), pauses while speaking during a White House press briefing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, July 20, 2017. Mulvaney has called Trump's tax-cutting approach to the economy MAGAnomics, a spin on Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again" and has repeatedly attacked the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for its estimates on the impact of Republicans' plans to repeal and replace Obamacare. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Mulvaney’s first days at CFPB: Payday, personnel and a prank

Acting CFPB Director Mick Mulvaney backed a congressional effort to overturn the agency's short-term lending rule, said he planned to install more political appointees and acknowledged a possible prank played on him.

(Full story here.)
OMB Director Mick Mulvaney
Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), listens to a question during an interview at the Securities Industry And Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) annual meting in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. SIFMA represents the U.S. securities industry including broker-dealers, banks and asset managers with nearly one million employees providing access to the capital markets. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Mulvaney's plan to embed political staffers in CFPB sparks backlash

Critics argue that the consumer bureau's independence is being undermined, and they worry that a precedent is being established that could hamper the autonomy of other U.S. financial regulators.

(Full story here.)
Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
Senator Patrick "Pat" Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, listens during a Senate Banking Committee hearing with Janet Yellen, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, not pictured, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015. Yellen said inflation and wage growth remain too low even as the job market improves, and she signaled that a change in the Fed's guidance on interest rates won't lock it into a timetable for tightening. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Pat Toomey
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

GAO effectively scraps CFPB auto lending guidance

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2013 guidance putting indirect auto lenders on the hook for unintentional discrimination by their partner dealers should have been subject to congressional review, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday.

(Full story here.)
Bruce Van Saun, Chairman and CEO of Citizens Financial Group.
Bruce Van Saun, chairman of the supervisory board at Royal Bank of Scotland NV, speaks during an interview in New York, U.S., on Friday, Sept. 27, 2013. Van Saun said in May he was leaving to run Citizens Financial Group Inc., the U.S. consumer and commercial business RBS is preparing to take public. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Bruce Van Saun
Scott Eells/Bloomberg

Tax cuts, hacking and fintech partnerships: A bank CEO's take

During a sit-down interview, Bruce Van Saun, the CEO at Citizens Financial, explained how Washington policy changes could boost lending, why cyber threats keep him up nights and how fintechs and AI are changing the industry for the better.

(Full story here.)
Amazon Echo Spot devices sit on display during the company's product reveal launch event in downtown Seattle in September.

Big banks hope early bet on Alexa will pay off

With millions of Alexa and Google Home devices now in use, first-mover banks are rapidly developing services to let customers control their finances using only their voice — even if there are still many kinks to work out.

(Full story here.)
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The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. headquarters stands in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. The FDIC, seeking to replenish deposit reserves as banks fail at the fastest pace in 17 years, today voted to unanimously to have lenders prepay fees through 2012, raising about $45 billion. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Fifth Third's McWilliams tapped as next FDIC chair

Jelena McWilliams, the chief legal officer for Fifth Third Bancorp, will be nominated as the next chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the White House said late Thursday.

(Full story here.)
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M&T finally seems ready for another bank acquisition

Five years have passed since M&T agreed to buy Hudson City, only to be tripped up by anti-money-laundering issues. With a clean bill of health from regulators and Hudson integrated, management is again talking about its interest in deals.

(Full story here.)
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When technology becomes a bank merger's albatross

After two century-old community institutions merged in 2010, they never suspected it would take seven years before their operating systems got along.

(Full story here.)
How bitcoin prices rose in 2017.

Is it time for bankers to rethink bitcoin?

Dizzying trading in bitcoin fed the bubble argument, but now that Nasdaq is the third Wall Street player to say it is designing a financial instrument around it, banks may be forced to reassess cryptocurrencies.

(Full story here.)
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee
Representative Jeb Hensarling, a Republican from Texas and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, waits to begin a hearing with John Stumpf, chief executive officer of Wells Fargo & Co., not pictured, in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016. Stumpf, fighting to keep his job amid a national political furor, will forgo more than $41 million of stock and salary as the banks board investigates how employees opened legions of bogus accounts for customers. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Breaking down Hensarling's GSE reform overture

House Financial Services Committee Jeb Hensarling shifted tactics on housing finance reform Wednesday, acknowledging that a bill he’s pushed for years to virtually eliminate the government’s role in the mortgage market lacks the support to become law.

(Full story here.)
Policymaking Tax cuts Bank technology Housing finance reform GSE reform GSEs Mobile banking Mobile technology Mick Mulvaney M&T Bank Citizens Financial CFPB News & Analysis
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