Regulation

As Treasury cracks down on DeFi, observers say merging the worlds of traditional and decentralized finance is an increasingly impossible dream.

Regulators have been sending out warning signals about the partnerships between banks and fintechs. Does this mean banks and fintechs have to change what they're doing?

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey criticized the degree of "opacity" surrounding some community benefit agreements, or written deals between banks and community groups ahead of a merger that often involve billions of dollars of commitments.

After the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency cracked down on a $2.8 billion-asset bank, industry observers expect more scrutiny of the ties between banks and financial technology startups.

It remains to be seen what the capped price for Russian oil will be or whether the move will stabilize world energy prices.

The 2012 order, which came alongside fines to U.S. authorities totaling nearly $2 billion, had sullied the London-based bank's reputation. "Over the last decade HSBC's employees have worked hard to transform the bank's financial crime risk management capabilities," HSBC says.

Banks have long lamented the lack of transparency surrounding the government's use of suspicious activity reports, which are submitted to Fincen and passed along to the department.

A recent mini-tender offer to shareholders in Truist Financial serves as a cautionary tale. "They're trolling around for investors that aren't paying attention," one lawyer said.

In a joint letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, three industry groups challenged the legal basis for a recent information request and accused the agency of unfairly disparaging the quality of customer service that banks provide.

On a combined basis, the GSEs performed better under this year's scenario than they did in 2021, but the Federal Housing Finance Agency said changes were still needed.