Regulation

Critics say the regulation issued by the Office of the Comptroller Currency is a gift to predatory lenders. But the trade organizations warned lawmakers that invalidating it will make it difficult for the agency to create an improved framework in the future.

The probe is the latest example of the consumer bureau scrutinizing sales tactics at big banks following the Wells Fargo fake-accounts scandal. U.S. Bancorp said it is cooperating fully.

Wall Street firms have urged the Biden administration to ease the industry’s burden in complying with a flood of financial sanctions the U.S. has levied in recent years as a primary tool of foreign policy toward Russia, China, Iran and other adversaries.

Organizations representing banks and other financial services firms said implementing the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's overhaul of the Community Reinvestment Act could be wasteful as regulators discuss a new interagency plan to modernize the law.

The Biden administration may finally be close to naming an acting comptroller of the currency. Whoever gets the interim job or is confirmed to run the agency over the longer term will have a lengthy to-do list, from Community Reinvestment Act reform to deciding the fate of divisive Trump-era rules.

The fintech reached an agreement with California regulators to disclose clearly that it’s not a bank and that its services are provided through bank partnerships.

Most executives are comfortable crossing over $1 billion of assets, where more frequent exams are the biggest supervisory change. But few are eager to take on the compliance burdens that accompany the jump above $10 billion.

The industry has raised concerns about nontraditional bank owners, and some lawmakers have backed limits for industrial loan companies and cryptocurrency firms. But members of the House and Senate have been unable to reach a consensus on legislation.

The online lender was not a party to the lawsuit involving the Federal Trade Commission and a payday lender, but it could emerge as one of the big winners from the Supreme Court’s decision.

The head of the Federal Reserve appeared to support Congress’s expanding the scope of the Community Reinvestment Act to unregulated institutions, just as regulators weigh how to modernize the framework for banks.