Links in “Banks”

From hacktivists, nation states, organized criminals, and insiders to lone individuals simply seeking to boost their reputation within the hacking community, each type of attacker poses their own brand of risks. [1/27/16]

PHH Corp. of New Jersey was hit with a $6 million fine for alleged "kickbacks." The lender protested the judge's decision. CFPB Director Cordray took issue with the lender's protest and slapped it with a $109 million penalty instead. PHH appealed. Now the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals has set a date to review the matter. It's a case that many in the industry are watching closely as "the first serious test of the CFPB's enforcement authority." See also here. [1/26/16]

After November's steep drop in mortgage originations, December experienced a bounce-back, as buyers sought to close before year-end. [1/26/16]

When it comes to cyber insurance policies, the insurance industry is maturing. Some customers with lax information security practices could experience pain. [1/26/16]

Community banks constituted 64% of total banking assets in 1992. By 2015, their market share had dropped to 19%. Yet community banks still account for the largest share of small-business loans. The top reason for the shrinkage is regulatory burden, such as Call Reports that have grown from 53 items in 1970 to 2,379 items last quarter. [1/25/16]

We've heard much about driverless cars, but could driverless banking also be heading our way? A look at fully automated banking, including investing, paying bills, making cash withdrawals, etc. (Which raises the question of whether a time will come when a driverless car will pull up to the teller drive-through window, where it will be helped by an automated teller, and between them launch Skynet and take over the world.) [1/25/16]

ABA says what was a straightforward mandate on financial institutions to ensure that homes are covered by flood insurance has "devolved into an increasingly complex and inefficient compliance exercise." It calls for change. [1/22/16]

The FDIC has approved an interim rule that increases the threshold of well-managed community banks that can qualify for an 18-month exam cycle instead of a 12-month exam cycle from $500 million in assets to less than $1 billion in assets. More than 600 institutions will be affected by the rule change. [1/22/16]

Herbies Auto Sales in Greeley, Colo., advertised a 9.99% APR, but then hid in it a $1,650 required repair agreement and $100 for GPS payment reminder device. The CFPB has hit the company with $800,000 in restitution and penalties. [1/22/16]

Inquiring minds in the House want to know why the CFPB is distributing money from the $80 million Ally Financial racial discrimination settlement to some white borrowers. Some suggest that sending settlement checks to verified customers would result in only 36,000 checks, far fewer than the 235,000 consumers the CFPB had publicly alleged were harmed by Ally. [1/21/16]