Links in “Banks”
- Ocwen Settlement: $150 Million and One Chairman
Mortgage servicer Ocwen settled with New York for alleged misdeeds in its dealings with distressed homeowners for $150 million and the resignation of its founder and executive chairman. [12/23/14]
- States to DoD: Proposal to Protect Servicemembers Not Enough
Attorneys general from 20 states write to the Department of Defense to say that while its proposal to protect servicemembers from predatory lending is laudable, the proposal could do more on two fronts: the 36% military APR and loans deceptively structured as "secured" in name only. [12/23/14]
- It’s the Little Things: Simple Security Slip Results in JPM Breach
Though JPMorgan spends an estimated $250 million per year on cyber security, the weak spot that resulted in a breach of customer data appears to have been a very basic one involving a network server that had not been upgraded to require two-factor authentication. [12/23/14]
- False Claim Act Nets Countrywide Whistleblower $57 Million
A former Countrywide executive was the whistle-blower on the sale of Countrywide's toxic loans to the GSEs. Under the False Claims Act, he can collect between 15-25% of the money the government recovers. In this case, that's a cool $57 million. [12/22/14]
- Choose Your Examination Adventure: Are You Winston Churchill or Neville Chamberlain?
Compliance is the slow and laborious task of years. Then, when your examiner comes in and destroys your hard work in the matter of a day (or so it seems), it can turn your examination into a power struggle. In this article, former FDIC examiner Ken Agle (with the assistance of Winston Churchill) teaches a way to help tip the scales back in your favor and assert control of your examination. [12/22/14]
- Three Contenders for Faster Payment Systems
The race is on between NACHA's same-day plan, The Clearing House's real-time plan, and the Fed Reserve's plan. [12/22/14]
- Minnesota Bank Failure Is No. 18 for 2014
Northern Star Bank, a Minnesota bank with two branches and $19 million in assets, was closed on Friday, bringing the total for the year to 18, compared to 24 last year. [12/22/14]
- Getting Personal: FinCEN Goes After Compliance Officer
In what is being perceived as an unprecedented move, FinCEN is seeking to hold a compliance officer personally responsible to the tune of $1 million for the anti-money laundering failures of his employer. FinCEN alleges MoneyGram's compliance officer allowed criminals to defraud consumers and launder the proceeds. [12/19/14]
- Trade Groups to Department of Defense: Beware Unintended Consequences
Several trade associations write to the Department of Defense regarding the proposed changes to the Military Lending Act, warning that some of the proposals could end up segregating servicemembers and their families from "needed and beneficial mainstream credit products." [12/19/14]
- Military Base Retailer Hit for “Unfair” and “Abusive” Debt Collection Acts
CFPB settles with retailer and related companies with stores near military bases for practices it deemed "unfair" and "abusive," including filing debt collection lawsuits "far away" from where the credit agreements commenced, hitting back-up payment methods without the servicemembers' awareness and before they were due, contacting the servicemembers' commanding officers to request their intervention in collecting debts, and hitting a family member's account for payment multiple times after the family member had authorized only a one-time payment. [12/19/14]
