Links in “Banks”

Facebook's ThreatExchange site allows private companies to share only as much data as they want, without involving the government, as proposed by President Obama's threat-sharing plan. [2/18/15]

Last week, the CFPB took action against three mortgage companies for violations of the Mortgage Acts and Practices Advertising Rule, its first actions since it issued warning letters to several institutions in 2012. See what got these three companies into hot water for their direct-mail advertisements. (Hint: Imply a government affiliation and you're looking for trouble.) [2/18/15]

The tail end of 2014 saw a bump in student-loan delinquencies to 11.3% over the prior quarter's 11.1%. Overall, the number is down from the high-water mark of 11.8% in 2013, yet well above the 6% from a decade ago. Student loans are the largest source of debt after mortgages. [2/18/15]

A hearing addresses concerns that the large mortgage settlements aren't going toward consumer relief, but to third-party organizations. [2/17/15]

Georgia, which has endured more (89) bank failures since 2008 than any other state, has just seen its first bank failure of 2015, making it the third bank failure nationwide for the year. Capitol City Bank & Trust Company in Atlanta, with eight branches and $272 million in assets, closed Friday. [2/17/15]

Banks are being warned about an online gang using Carbanak malware that has stolen up to $1 billion from banks in 30 countries, including the US. A spear-phishing attack, using an infected Word document, downloads malware onto bank employees' computers. Hackers observe everything happening on screen, then use that information to steal funds. The attackers are highly sophisticated, using such techniques as inflating an account of $1,000 to $10,000, then stealing $9,000 so that the account holder would not suspect anything. [2/17/15]

Since the first viruses hit personal computers in the early 1980s, we've been in a cyber arms race ever since. Government involvement is seen as a key to building a comprehensive view of cyber threats and to ward off attacks. [2/17/15]

Community banking is at risk because of regulatory overkill, according to ICBA's chairman in testimony before Congress. ABA echoes these sentiments here. Yet more coverage on the Senate Banking Committee's hearing on regulatory burdens on community banks here. [2/13/15]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) argues that the complaints from smaller banks about being smothered by unnecessary regulation are a ploy by large banks to make changes to Dodd-Frank. [2/13/15]

In a joint letter to members of the House and Senate, several trade agencies urge Congress to ignore "excuses, attempts to pass blame, and efforts to make this a fight between business sectors" of retailer groups, and to focus instead on preventing fraud from harming consumers. Oh, and to make sure that the costs of a data breach are ultimately borne by the entity that incurs the breach. [2/13/15]