Links in “Banks”

He was a bank director under fire for embezzling and losing millions of dollars that eventually led to his bank's failure. He left letters saying that he would commit suicide at sea and was last seen boarding a ferry. A judge later declared him dead. A year and half later, he was arrested during a routine traffic stop. He was sentenced yesterday to 30 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $51 million and compensate his victims. [10/29/14]

New report by Pew Charitable Trusts finds that only 50% of banks on military bases adopted a checking disclosure that meets Pew's standards. For credit unions, the number is 2%. The report had other findings showing shortcomings of financial institutions operating in military installations. [10/29/14]

If a lender makes a loan to a borrower, but ends up having to discharge the debt due to the borrower's bankruptcy or other qualifying trigger, then as far as the IRS is concerned, the discharged amount wasn't free money to the borrower —it's considered taxable income. How and when that discharged amount gets communicated to the borrower as well as the IRS can be a little complicated. AffirmX's Jane Pannier gives us the scoop on what is causing the confusion and how the IRS proposes to clear matters up. [10/28/14]

The "120-day rule," which prohibits servicers from sending the first notice for foreclosure until the borrower's mortgage is more than 120 days delinquent, seems fairly straightforward. But what happens with rolling delinquencies, in which borrowers resume making payments without making up past missed payments? ABA is seeking clarification from the CFPB on the matter, while sharing results of its survey that shows banks are all over the map on this issue. [10/28/14]

Bank of America's $16.7 billion settlement has stalled as SEC commissioners wage a behind-the-scenes battle over the details. Behind the wrangling appears to be the question of whether regulators have been too soft on Wall Street. [10/28/14]

More on the six federal agencies' adoption of the final Credit Risk Retention Rule, often called the "skin in the game" rule, because it requires sponsors of securitizations to retain an economic interest in the assets they sell. [10/27/14]

After a quiet three months, October brings us bank failures on two consecutive Fridays. This week, the OCC closed National Republic Bank of Chicago, bringing the number of bank failures for the year to 16, and the fifth failure this year in Illinois. [10/27/14]

CVS and Rite Aid disabled Apple Pay in their drugstores in favor of a competing system being developed by a consortium in which they are participating. [10/27/14]

While the CFPB characterized the amendments to its final mortgage rules as "minor adjustments," the final rule contains several major changes from its proposal. [10/24/14]

ATM skimming, in which criminals extract card info from the magnetic stripe and record PIN information (often with small cameras), is costing financial institutions $2 billion worldwide annually. [10/24/14]