Legal & Regulation

Bank Regulation
Leela CEO Says AI Can Give FinTechs a 10-Person Compliance Team
October 12, 2026

Compliance remains labor-intensive for financial institutions, which must satisfy multiple regulators and meet extensive documentation requirements. Leela is built to perform much of that work rather than simply provide information. The company is launching with $4.6 million in funding and an AI platform designed to...

Legal & Regulation
CFTC Wants to Redefine Swaps to Include Prediction Platforms
October 11, 2026

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) wants to define financial swaps to include event contracts based on sports, political, cultural and weather-related events. The regulator published a proposed rulemaking plan Friday (Oct. 9), part of an ongoing legal fight around the prediction markets sector. That...

Legal & Regulation
White House Urges Congress to Pass Credit Card Competition Act
October 09, 2026

President Donald Trump continues to urge Congress to pass the Credit Card Competition Act, a bill that would require any card issued by major banks to support at least two card networks, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday (Oct. 8). Merchant lobbyists who support the bill have...

Legal & Regulation
Blockchain.com Seeks US Approval for Event Contracts and Derivatives
October 09, 2026

Digital asset platform Blockchain.com applied for licenses to offer event contracts and cryptocurrency derivatives in the United States, CNBC reported Friday (Oct. 9). Blockchain.com told CNBC it filed applications with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) seeking a designated contract market (DCM) license and registration as a futures commission merchant...

Legal & Regulation
Banks Face Easier CFPB Exams as Agency Funding Fight Drags On
October 09, 2026

Banks and other consumer lending institutions are finding it easier these days to score a passing grade from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) examiners amid an ongoing battle over the agency’s funding and structure. According to Reuters, more than half the institutions examined earlier this...

AML
OCC and Fed Fine American Express $350 Million Over AML Deficiencies
October 08, 2026

American Express takes its responsibility to fight financial crime seriously and is committed to addressing concerns outlined by banking regulators, Chairman and CEO Stephen J. Squeri said in a statement released Thursday (Oct. 8). Squeri issued the statement on the same day the Office of...

Bank Regulation
Fed’s Bowman Decries ‘Antiquated’ Analysis Blocking Rural Bank Mergers
October 06, 2026

There is more work to be done in modernizing the bank regulatory and supervision framework, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle W. Bowman said Tuesday (Oct. 6). In a speech delivered at the Community Banking Research Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, Bowman said that over the past two years the Fed...

Bank Regulation
Rain Seeks OCC’s Approval to Create National Trust Bank
October 06, 2026

Rain is the latest digital asset company seeking to launch a national trust bank. The stablecoin payments infrastructure company announced Monday (Oct. 5) that it has applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Rain National Trust Bank (RNTB). If...

Legal & Regulation
US Companies on Pace to Pay $1.4 Billion in Privacy Settlements
October 05, 2026

A law passed in 1968 is apparently driving a new surge in privacy violation settlements. That’s according to new research published Monday (Oct. 5) by privacy platform Privado AI, showing that American companies are on track this year to pay upwards of $1.4 billion to settle claims that...