Victoria Finkle

WASHINGTON — With just a couple of weeks left before Congress takes a holiday recess, lawmakers are stepping up efforts to deter frivolous patent lawsuits against credit unions, banks and a host of other companies.

With just two weeks left before Congress takes a holiday recess, lawmakers are stepping up efforts to deter frivolous patent lawsuits against banks and a host of other companies.

Lawmakers debated draft legislation aimed at reducing duplicative or inconsistent bank regulations on Wednesday, though the bipartisan effort is already drawing some criticism from Democrats.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is urging big banks to voluntarily disclose their contributions to think tanks, arguing that donations could influence policymaking.

The Senate Banking Committee is making progress toward drafting legislation to overhaul the mortgage finance market, but one of the biggest unresolved issues is how much skin in the game private market participants must have in return for a government guarantee.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is urging regulators to strengthen their supplemental leverage ratio in order to help eliminate concerns over "too big to fail."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has finally made good on longstanding threats to alter chamber rules on executive nominations, likely paving the way for controversial White House nominees to win confirmation — including Rep. Mel Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The House Financial Services Committee passed six bills on Thursday to alter various aspects of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Senate Banking Committee voted to advance Janet Yellen's nomination to head the Federal Reserve on Thursday, with several lawmakers breaking party lines.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers dove headlong into the growing debate over virtual currencies like Bitcoin this week, with back-to-back hearings in the Senate.

In back-to-back hearings this week, lawmakers acknowledged the promise of virtual currencies like Bitcoin and the risks of overregulation along with the danger of abuse. Laws on the books may suffice to address the latter, for now.

A detailed look at how the freshman senator from Massachusetts has used her first 10 months in office, including her own insights from an interview with American Banker.

The House Financial Services Committee passed several bills on Thursday, including regulatory relief legislation for community banks and credit unions.

The Government Accountability Office is the first of two highly-anticipated reports that details the benefits the largest banks receive from being considered "too big to fail."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren rallied supporters on Tuesday to help end "too big to fail" and back her bill to separate commercial banking from riskier activities, in a fiery speech before consumer advocates.

WASHINGTON — The battle over how to craft affordable housing requirements as part of mortgage finance reform took center stage Thursday as witnesses at a Senate Banking Committee hearing sparred over the issue.

The battle over how to craft affordable housing requirements as part of mortgage finance reform took center stage on Thursday as witnesses at a Senate Banking Committee hearing sparred over the issue, including whether dedicated funds should be subject to Congressional appropriations.

The Senate Banking Committee dug into the details Tuesday of how to ensure that community banks retain access to a reformed housing finance system as agreement over a broad approach began to emerge.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee dug into the details Tuesday of how a reformed housing finance system can ensure access to credit unions and community banks, as agreement over a broad approach is beginning to emerge.

The Senate Banking Committee continues to discuss housing finance reform options even as efforts to confirm Congressman Mel Watt to run the Federal Housing Finance Agency stall.