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Since President Trumps return to office in January, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has dropped several enforcement actions against companies filed under the agencys previous director, Rohit Chopra. Now the bureau is seeking to give back a $105,000 penalty that Chicago-based lender Townstone Financial paid to settle alleged racial discrimination claims last year. The case was initially filed in 2020, during Trumps first term, by Kathleen Kraninger, the director appointed by the president to lead the consumer watchdog. But on Wednesday, the new acting director of the CFPB, Russell Vought, sought to vacate the settlement completely and return the six-figure penalty that Townstone had to pay. Once new CFPB leadership undertook the review of the history of this case, it became clear from the totality of internal evidence that this case has suffered from deficiencies on the merits and Townstone was targeted because of its protected speech, the bureau said in its filing to the U.S District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. What was the original case about? The CFPB originally brought the action against Townstone, alleging that it had “discouraged black prospective applicants from applying for mortgage loans with Townstone . . . by making, over a period of years, several statements on their long-form commercial advertisement radio show. The complaint accused the “Townstone Financial Show” of making discriminatory statements that discouraged Black applicants from seeking mortgage loans. It cites five incidents, including some comments made by co-host Barry Sturner, Townstone’s CEO. In one example, for instance, Sturner referred to a downtown Chicago Jewel-Osco grocery store as Jungle Jewel and called it scary due to its diverse patrons. In another, he called Chicagos South Side hoodlum weekend and claimed police were the only force preventing it from becoming a real war zone. The CFPB also alleged that “From 2014 through 2017, barely 2 percent of Townstones mortgage-loan applications were for properties in majority African American neighborhoods, even though they make up nearly 19 percent of the Chicago metropolitan areas census tracts.” In 2023, a federal court in Chicago dismissed the bureaus lawsuit, ruling that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act only applied to actual loan applicants, not prospective ones. However, the bureau appealed, and a panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned the decision. Fast Company reached out to Townstone for comment. In its settlement in 2024, it admitted no wrongdoing. The CFPB’s latest response After reviewing the settlement, the bureau stated in a press release on Wednesday that the, CFPB abused its power, used radical equity arguments to tag Townstone as racist with zero evidence, and spent years persecuting and extorting them all to further the goal of mandating DEI in lending via their regulation by enforcement tactics.” According to the press release, there was no complaint from the public against Townstone but the company was drawn out of hat by a computer model run by “DEI-driven bureaucrats.” It accused the previous CFPB administration of targeting Townstone for its protected free speech, using audio-mining software to review the companys radio shows and podcasts, specifically flagging political speech critical of the bureau. They identified 16 minutes out of nearly 79 hours of radio content (.33%) that they deemed disconcerting,” the press release states, and that could be interpreted as inappropriate, incorrect, or insensitive.” It further claimed that the radio show was only Talking about local crime, political issues around freedom of speech, supporting local law enforcement, and telling people to check out a neighborhood before buying a home. The CFPB said in the recent filing that it supports the dismissal of all claims in order to permit the agency to return to Townstone the civil penalty it paid. The move signals a broader effort by the Trump administration to scale back what it describes as overreach and politically motivated enforcement actions from previous leadership.
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After a yearlong search, the Sundance Film Festival announced Thursday that its new home will be Boulder, Colorado, keeping Sundance in the mountains but moving it out of Park City, the Utah ski town that had for decades provided the premier independent film gathering its picturesque snowy backdrop. Organizers said that after 40 years in the mountains, the festival had outgrown Park City, and lacked the necessary theaters or affordable housing to continue hosting what has become one of North Americas most sprawling movie events. Sundance had narrowed down the options to Salt Lake City (with a smaller presence in Park City), Cincinnati and Boulder. Boulder, organizers said, emerged as their choice due to its close proximity to nature, its small-town charm and an engaged community that provides Sundance the ideal setting for its future. Boulder is a tech town, its a college town, its an arts town, and its a mountain town, Amanda Kelso, acting chief executive of the Sundance Institute, said in an interview Thursday from Boulder. At 100,000 people, a larger town than Park City, it gives us the space to expand. Kelso, Sundance Institute board chair Ebs Burnough and Eugene Hernandez, director of the festival and head of programming, spoke shortly before announcing the festivals move in Boulder. Local officials, who helped lure Sundance with $34 million in tax credits over 10 years, applauded the decision. Here in our state we celebrate the arts and film industry as a key economic driver, job creator and important contributor to our thriving culture, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement. A changed endorsed by Sundance founder Robert Redford A shift from Park City to Boulder means Sundance stays at altitude but gives up being located in an expensive ski town. The mile-high Colorado city set in the foothills of the Rockies also maintains a sense of surrounding nature something organizers stressed as a factor in their decision. Boulders four-block pedestrian mall on Pearl Street, with nearby theaters, could also provide a similar sense of central hub like Park Citys Main Street. The Sundance Institute was founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, who sought a location far from Hollywood to foster independent voices in film. In 1984, the institute took over the Sundance Film Festival, but the nonprofits mission of helping young filmmakers grow through labs and workshops Redfords real passion continued year-round away from the festival. The 88-year-old Redford, who attended the University of Colorado in Boulder in his youth, gave the move his blessing. Words cannot express the sincere gratitude I have for Park City, the state of Utah, and all those in the Utah community that have helped to build the organization, Redford said in a statement. What weve created is remarkably special and defining. As change is inevitable, we must always evolve and grow, which has been at the core of our survival. How Sundance chose its new home The festival made ethos and equity values one of its criteria, prompting many to wonder how much local politics would influence the choice by Sundance, which emphasizes inclusivity. Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is currently weighing a bill that would ban the flying of certain flags at schools and government buildings, including the LGBTQ pride flag. Organizers said Boulders welcoming environment aligns with the ethos the Sundance Film Festival developed in Park City. This process started 18 months ago and weve been in Utah for 40 years. So politics really didnt guide the process, Burnough said Thursday. It was really and truly about evolution. Thats where it landed. We didnt constantly spend time examining what bill was going forward or may or may not be signed. With its current contract expiration date looming, the hunt for a new host city began in earnest in April 2024. The initial group of six contenders also included Atlanta, Louisville, Kentucky and Santa Fe, New Mexico. What Sundance has meant for Park City, and the film world Before packing up, Sundance will have one last edition in Park City in January 2026. The Sundance Film Festival will be the Sundance Film Festival wherever we go. Whats consistent is our mission, said Hernandez. This is a festival of global discovery. Whats exciting about Boulder is this is a place we can build. Over the years, Sundance in Park City swelled into a premier marketplace for American film, drawing studio executives and parka-wearing celebrities into the Wasatch mountains every January. It helped launch countless filmmakers over the years, from Steven Soderbergh (Sex, Lies and Videotape) to Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station). Sundance scored its first best picture winner with CODA in 2022. Sundance meant big business for Utah and Park City. In 2024, the festival had some 72,840 in-person attendees, 24,200 of whom were coming from out of state. According to the festivals economic impact report, out-of-state visitors spent an estimated $106.4 million in Utah during the festival. Its total economic impact was estimated to be $132 million, with 1,730 jobs for Utah residents and $69.7 million in Utah wages. But the festival had also sparred with local ski resorts Park Citys other major money maker as festivalgoers filled the hotels and left the slopes virtually empty for two weeks during peak ski season. The festival was a boon to some local businesses, but a hindrance to others. For visitors flying into the 10-day festival, ballooning rental costs increasingly factored into attending. Cox had urged Sundance to stay in Utah, but has said the state’s economy would be OK if it lost the festival. All three top contenders budgeted millions to lure the lucrative festival to their city. Cincinnati set aside $2.5 million for Sundance and another $2.5 million to come if it was chosen. Salt Lake City offered Sundance $3.5 million to stay in Utah. Jake Coyle, AP film writer Associated Press Writer Hannah Schoenbaum and Film Writer Lindsey Bahr contributed to this report.
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Eurozone banks are resilient but need to be ready for geopolitical shocks and their consequences, including the risk that liquidity could dry up amid jittery financial markets, European Central Bank supervisory chief Claudia Buch said on Thursday. Policy reversals in some key areas by U.S. President Donald Trump‘s administration have unsettled investors in recent months, and policymakers are now assessing how this could affect growth, stability, and financial risk. This comes on top of financial and political stress created by Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Western sanctions that followed. “A potential deterioration in asset quality and possible economic disruptions caused by geopolitical conflicts or the effects of financial sanctions require heightened attention, sufficient capital and robust governance and risk management systems in banks,” Buch said in the ECB’s annual report on banking supervision. Reuters reported last week some central bankers and supervisors were even questioning whether they can still rely on the U.S. Federal Reserve to provide dollar funding in times of market stress given Trump’s erratic trade and foreign policy. Asked about this risk during a parliamentary hearing on Thursday, Buch said ECB supervisors continued to work well with their Federal Reserve colleagues but they monitored liquidity “very closely.” “Liquidity risk and also foreign exchange risk is something we monitor very closely as a routine part of our supervisory assessment,” she said. Sources told Reuters they considered it highly unlikely the Fed would not honor its funding commitments and the U.S. central bank itself has given no signals to suggest that. In its annual report, the ECB spelled out how geopolitical shocks could affect banks. Among risks ranging from politically motivated cyber attacks to asset seizures, the ECB said banks could face stress relating to liquidity and funding, including in foreign currencies. This might result in higher borrowing costs, increased use of credit lines, and even margin calls, whereby a bank must post more collateral at a clearing house to avoid having its positions liquidated and being shut out of financial markets. A constant threat during the 2008 global financial crisis, margin calls have all but disappeared from the public discourse since then in part thanks to liquidity backstops implemented by central banks such as the Fed and the ECB. “Geopolitical risks need to be considered within the context of liquidity and capital planning,” the ECB’s report said. Buch also said banks also needed to be prepared for cybersecurity threats as both the incidence and the severity of such attacks had increased. Buch also called on European Union lawmakers to make progress in approving a crisis management and deposit insurance framework to better deal with bank failures and protect depositors. Balazs Koranyi and Francesco Canepa, Reuters
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