Dodd-Frank

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sharply criticized Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White on Tuesday, asking for details about the agency's enforcement actions and the implementation of key Dodd-Frank Act rules.

Newly elected Rep. French Hill knows firsthand what it's like to lead a bank through a crisis and implement the sometimes complex rules of Dodd-Frank. That knowledge may prove key as he battles to make regulation simpler for small banks.

Former Wells Fargo Chief Executive Richard Kovacevich on Friday said that "regulation is killing small banks."

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including a call for a small-business loan brokers' code of ethics and why Congress needs to level the playing field for investors in bank obligations.

Community banks had a banner first quarter, federal regulators said Wednesday — but it may come at a problematic time, politically speaking. The Quarterly Banking Profile may only deepen some lawmakers concern that small banks do not need regulatory relief if they are performing so well.

The American Bankers Association announced that Rob Nichols, head of the Financial Services Forum and a former top Treasury Department official, would be its next CEO. The move appears designed to boost the ABA's profile inside the beltway.

The Federal Reserve's ability to provide emergency lending to institutions in the event of a crisis must be eliminated in order to end "too big to fail," said Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's use of relatively new authority to punish actors for actions considered "abusive" is picking up steam, though the exact meaning of the term is not always easy to grasp.

By ensuring that all big-bank investors receive equal treatment in bankruptcy and looking for other ways to prevent short-term liquidity problems from becoming major financial crises, Congress can avoid the need to test the FDIC’s ability to resolve large financial institutions.

Last month's unrest in Baltimore once again cast the spotlight on the negative cycle of crime, violence and poverty that plays out in many American cities and counties. So why aren't banks directing more of their investment dollars into the neighborhoods that need it the most? And can Community Reinvestment Act reform help push them in that direction?

An obscure provision in the regulatory relief bill championed by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., is giving mutual holding companies hope that a threat to their business model will be eliminated.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the merits and drawbacks of Sen. Richard Shelby's regulatory reform legislation, whether bigger banks are inherently riskier and banks' evolving interest in blockchain technology.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and from our social media platforms.

Lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee may still stand divided on regulatory reform, but Thursday's markup points to ongoing desire for a way forward.

The Senate Banking Committee approved a broad regulatory reform bill Thursday on party lines, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle vowing to continue negotiations this summer.

Despite strong rhetoric from both sides that legislative action is needed to help community banks, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee remain divided in their approaches ahead of a markup Thursday.

The proposed legislation for regulatory relief seeks to roll back critical mortgage protections put in place to prevent another housing crisis.

Critics of the regulatory relief bill proposed by Sen. Richard Shelby argue that will endanger the financial system and benefit big banks. But in fact, the changes offer sensible, nonpartisan fixes to some of the biggest problems with the Dodd-Frank Act.

Lost in the debate so far over Shelby's regulatory relief bill are the significant changes it makes to the housing finance system. It essentially takes consensus elements from multiple past stabs at reform, leaving out the most controversial parts and making future reform far easier.

The U.S. financial system has weathered several external threats in the past year, but significant hazards remain, including the potential for cyberattacks and excessive concentration of risk in central counterparties, according to a report by the Financial Stability Oversight Council.