Policy & Regulation

Enova International, a nonbank lender in Chicago, plans to gain scale by taking over Grasshopper Bank's national bank charter. The deal already faces skepticism from critics of Enova's high-cost lending model.

A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report on Pay in 4 buy now/pay later loans offered validation for an industry that has faced criticism for expanding into everyday spending, such as food delivery.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, speaking at a press conference after the December FOMC meeting, said the central bank is holding interest rates steady until it gets more clarity on the economy.

Pornographers, private-prison operators and digital-asset firms were among the industries that major banks curbed ties with over moral or reputational concerns, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's preliminary findings in its "debanking" probe launched earlier this year.

In a new interpretive letter, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will allow banks to serve as middlemen for "riskless" crypto trades, extending existing brokerage authority for securities to digital assets.

Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said digital asset firms' trust charter bids fit into the historic scope of the charter, refuting claims that a 2021 interpretive letter he authored as OCC General Counsel expanded the charter's scope.

In oral arguments held Monday morning, a majority of Supreme Court justices seemed poised to overrule a 90-year-old precedent validating multimember independent commissions, but it remains uncertain what limits — if any — the court may impose on the president's removal powers.

Federal Reserve watchers expect a board of governors vote in February to reappoint the 12 regional Fed bank presidents — which is typically treated as a formality — to be the next flashpoint in the White House's effort to bring the central bank to heel.

While overall payments declined, the financial sector remained the top payer to cybercriminals, surpassing both health care and manufacturing.

A comment deadline is approaching on a proposed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would dismantle longstanding rules meant to protect minorities from discrimination in the market for credit.