U.S. federal prosecutors target banks servicing payday lenders: NYT

Reuters: The U.S. justice department is exploring civil and criminal actions against more than 50 big and small banks that conduct business with payday lenders, who are being increasingly scrutinized by regulators, the New York Times reported, citing government officials.

Under a new program, "Operation Choke Point," the department is checking banks over whether they enabled payday lenders to illegally siphon billions of dollars from U.S. consumers' checking accounts, the newspaper said, citing state and federal officials briefed on the investigation.

Read article