Joe Adler

In an advisory, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. urged banks to be mindful of gaps in liability coverage for director and officer lawsuits – the same lawsuits the FDIC is filing against failed-bank managers.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. told banks Thursday to be wary of liability insurance policies that could still force directors and officers to have to pay civil damages.

The Shared National Credits report cited alarm about syndicated loans made to borrowers with higher leverage than normal, with 42% of such credits "criticized" by regulators.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators on Wednesday urged banks and other financial institutions to consider loan modification plans for borrowers affected by the government shutdown, which is now in its second week.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported continued positive signs about the health of its insurance fund, and said improvement in the industry has also meant lower premiums for some institutions.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. told banks under its watch to prioritize "prudent interest rate risk oversight."

Bankers warn that a default on certain Treasuries could put market collateral at risk, harm overnight lending, drain key sources of liquidity from the market and shatter consumer confidence.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — not one of the six agencies defining so-called "Qualified Residential Mortgages" — could still determine the future of the label under a recent proposal.

Internet-based, short-term lenders have various routes for setting up business, but most of their options expose them to potential legal challenges.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sought to ease concerns about its view of banks' affiliations with online lenders, saying institutions correctly managing their third-party relationships "are neither prohibited nor discouraged" from processing payments for legal entities.

Higher interest rates have cut into bank profits in recent months, but that was only the start of the problem for big banks. The volatility is also hurting the value of their available-for-sale debt securities, which could cost them once Basel III takes effect Jan. 1.

Revisions to banks' duties under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act are coming soon, and they are meant to "ease the operational and technological burdens" of banks, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said.

Panelists at American Banker's Regulatory Symposium will discuss a federal proposal addressing how banks should develop risk management policies for their use of social media.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is facing accusations that it is forcing banks to cut ties with online payday lenders, but the agency says it is only urging banks to be on guard about merchant relationships that elevate their risk.

FDIC warns banks to prepare for future interest rate impact on unrealized gains and losses.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency shuttered the $3.1 billion-asset First National Bank in Edinburg, Texas, and it was sold by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in a deal estimated to cost $637 million to the Deposit Insurance Fund.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. resisted big-bank pressure to overhaul a rule, issued Tuesday, that clarified that U.S. bank deposits held in a foreign branch do not receive FDIC insurance, even if they can be withdrawn in the U.S.

The Federal Home Loan Bank system, which has been hurt by successive quarters of low demand for advances, saw its strongest advances growth in nearly six years in the second quarter as banks began to see depositors exit.

Receiving Wide Coverage ...Time Really Flies: Five-year retrospectives of the 2008 meltdown were popular over the weekend and fed into Monday's papers. Journal economics editor David Wessel wove together a complete summary of the meltdown — from the fallout over the sharp decline in housing values to policymakers' decision-making over which firms to bail out and which to let fail. In the five years of recovery since the near collapse, "Americans could justifiably celebrate victory." But it is only a partial victory. "The fundamental unresolved policy question is this: Were the fiscal and monetary stimulus the wrong medicine, or were they just too small to do the job?"

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. board of directors on Tuesday is set to finalize a regulation dealing with the agency's handling of uninsured deposits held in foreign branches.