US CFPB scraps Citibank discrimination case three years early

(Corrects paragraph 5 to specify that Citi declined to comment while CFPB did not respond) WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The top U.S. consumer finance watchdog agency on Thursday terminated a 2023 enforcement case against Citigroup's lending arm Citibank that had penalized the banking giant for alleged discrimination against Armenian Americans in California. Citibank in 2023 agreed to pay nearly $26 million in fines and consumer redress to resolve allegations that it had intentionally discriminated against credit card applicants based on their last names and then illegally fabricated records to cover this up. At the time, Citigroup apologized, saying a "small number" of employees had circumvented protocols when trying to thwart an Armenian fraud ring and that those involved had been disciplined. In an order posted Thursday to the CFPB's website, acting Director Russell Vought said the CFPB had terminated the consent order, noting that the bank had paid the settlement costs and taken steps to prevent future violations. Representatives for Citigroup declined to comment. The CFPB did not respond to an email seeking comment. Vought, who is also President Donald Trump's budget director and has overseen efforts to slash the federal workforce, said Wednesday he expected to shut the CFPB down within months. The original 2023 consent order was due to remain in force for another three years and contained provisions requiring the bank to supply the CFPB with compliance records on request and make employees and others available to investigators if necessary. Since Trump took control of the CFPB in February, the agency has sought to undo several already-resolved enforcement actions, including cases against Toyota Motor Credit, Bank of America, Apple and US Bank. It has also dropped pending cases en masse. (Reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington; Editing by Aurora Ellis)

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