The Treasury Department's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund has introduced significant updates to the CDFI certification application, aiming to simplify the process and establish clearer standards for responsible lending and community development.

A provision to standardize and clarify banks' operational risk obligations — which opponents say is excessively costly and may not be effective — is emerging as the focal point of the public debate on the broader rule. It may also be the key to taking the rule over the finish line.

The fireworks that traditionally accompany big bank CEOs' appearances in Congress were absent Wednesday, but instead executives pushed their opposition to the Basel III capital rules and its impact on the economy. 

Brokerage giants, reeling from a billion-dollar judgment against them a month ago, face another major trial next year.

The number of government-backed home loans transferred from one borrower to another is up significantly this year as prospective buyers look for ways to avoid elevated interest rates. Some say this is the beginning of a larger movement, but others say regulatory hurdles will get in the way.

Rep. Maxine Waters pressed executives from City National Bank, PNC Financial Services and Wells Fargo on opening branches in her California district and upholding promises made from recent merger agreements or consent orders.

The Federal Home Loan Bank System is a crucial element of our financial infrastructure. All stakeholders should be included in discussions about reforming it.

The Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision said the central bank is weighing regulatory and supervisory changes to liquidity management standards. Current approaches, he said, might not be able to contend with the speed of modern runs.

During a second day of comparatively mild questioning from lawmakers in semiannual oversight hearings, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said artificial intelligence could exacerbate existing weaknesses in the financial system without tighter protections.

Net income at banks fell 4.6% year over year in the third quarter, though it remained above pre-pandemic levels, according to the latest Quarterly Banking Profile. FDIC Chairman Gruenberg cautioned about deteriorating commercial real estate loans and unrealized losses on securities in a high interest rate enviroment.

The Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision said new definitions around community development activities and the ability for banks to invest outside their immediate assessment areas could be a boon to Native Americans and their communities.

At least 400 loan officers working for Bank of America violated the requirements of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act by failing to collect the race, ethnicity and sex of mortgage applicants and then falsely reporting that the applicants had chosen not to respond, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Federal Reserve governor was one of two dissenting votes on the proposed capital changes earlier this year, but he said he would be open to backing the package if operational capital changes were made.

Financial firms claim a proposal by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would restrict lending, raise borrowing costs and result in more denials of credit to consumers.

In Canada and the U.K., borrowers can take mortgages with them from home to home. Some say this feature could unlock the U.S. housing market, but others say it would be more trouble than it's worth.

The financial services industry has run TV ads during football games and organized lobbying visits by small-business owners in its fight against the Basel III endgame plan to raise capital requirements for larger lenders. The tactics are beginning to show signs of working.

In her first remarks since the release of a sweeping report on the banks, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Sandra Thompson urges them to strengthen underwriting and communication with their members' regulators.

Speaking at an event hosted by The Clearing House, the Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision said he expects both instant payment processing systems to be widely adopted over time.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in an annual report to Congress that unpaid medical debt is plagued by inaccuracies, and that consumers are often faced with opaque pricing and uncertain insurance coverage.

Experts across the financial services space hold that the White House's new mandates won't bring wholly new rules to the industry, but will hopefully explain what the path forward for governing agencies will look like.