Compensation rules mandated by Dodd-Frank is a potential tool to make executives accountable for misconduct like the Wells Fargo scandal, if regulators are willing to use it.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can determine nearly anything to be an unfair, deceptive or abusive act or practice, and it's more likely to do so when lenders try to take advantage of regulatory loopholes.
Unlike Wells Fargo's unauthorized account openings, concerns in 2003 about banks discounting rates on loans in exchange for customers buying investment-banking products were less about consumer protection than the potential harm to credit quality and competition.
With the risk-taking culture at big banks Â-- including that which contributed to the Wells Fargo fiasco Â-- it's a good thing the House bill to weaken Dodd-Frank will never become law.
As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposes new small-dollar lending rules, it has also sought comment on an alternative plan that would open the door to banks providing more lower-income credit solutions.
While the retail lobby won in the political arena and successfully decreased its costs through price-fixing, the biggest loser in this situation was the American consumer.
Without incentives to shoot higher, banks usually settle for "Satisfactory" on their Community Reinvestment Act exams, but many find that not getting a better grade has consequences.
