Consumer lending

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., released a survey of lending practices that he said point to practices such as forced arbitration clauses and extracting a customer’s credit score to determine creditworthiness.

The number of consumers being pursued by debt-collection agencies fell dramatically in the past year, but it's as much technicality as achievement, and bankers need to keep that in mind when reviewing the credit scores of millions of Americans.

Joe Baratta, Blackstone’s global head of private equity, said that he was drawn to the Sacramento. Calif., company because he believes its technology offers lenders a more efficient way to find customers.

Readers react to Wells Fargo's latest penalty, weigh in on the Vatican's criticism of credit default swaps and opine on the long tail of the financial crisis.

As memories of the financial crisis fade, consumers are back to their old spending and saving habits — and that could be a big problem.