The agency said Cross River Bank and an affiliated debt settlement company misled customers into thinking a debt consolidation program would settle their debts and boost their creditworthiness.
One purpose of the Senate bill was for small banks to rein in skyrocketing costs, but some bankers question whether the changes will save them money, and adapting to the reforms may even increase spending.
The biggest legacy of the current regulatory relief effort may be the increasing focus on whether organizing banks in supervisory buckets by asset size makes sense. Yet the bill deals with just one of the two big asset thresholds in the law.
An affiliate of the private-equity firm Angel Oak is packaging bank-issued sub debt to minimize risk for bondholders. It recently completed its first securitization and has plans to issue two deals a year.
Only North Dakota has its own state-owned bank, but policymakers in other states say more public banks are necessary to fully meet society's needs. Among those who proponents say would benefit the most: small-business owners and legal marijuana suppliers and distributors.
