On February 3, 2012, Mr. Perez and his deputy, special counsel for fair lending Eric Halperin, met in St.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: The Talented Mr. Perez

The Justice Department last year reached a far smaller fair-lending settlement with two American International Group Inc.

WSJ: Victims Sought in Countrywide Case

The agreement, announced last Wednesday, was the largest residential fair-lending settlement in history.

WSJ: Victims Sought in Countrywide Case

Before deciding to move ahead, the bank held lengthy discussions with community and fair-lending groups and the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, among others.

WSJ: Bank of America Weighs New Set of Fees

Already, he points out, banks have had to write down a fair amount of lending on cars because banks were too optimistic about the residual value of the cars that backed the loans.

ECONOMIST: The bigger they are

Bank of America and Wells Fargo have done a fair amount of ESOP lending, Rosen says, noting that the market is otherwise pretty dispersed.

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They also employ algorithms to determine the fair value of each listed property, lending some rigor to a once-inexact science.

FORBES: Finding Value in the Economic Downturn

Payday loan firms have been told to change their behaviour after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) found evidence of "widespread irresponsible lending".

BBC: Payday lenders told to improve by OFT

High-profile money lending firm Wonga has been criticised by the Office of Fair Trading for using aggressive and misleading debt collection methods.

BBC: Wonga debt collection methods criticised by OFT

Mr Kiely admitted he ran an unlicensed money lending business, which changed when he obtained a licence from the Office of Fair Trading last year for his firm Millennium Finance Limited.

BBC: Money lender 'helped his debtors'