Dodd-Frank

Regulators should demand more derivatives disclosures in forthcoming living wills. Having banks disclose the risk factors in their risk measurement models would help regulators understand if banks are well capitalized for unexpected losses.

The Federal Reserve Board has the authority to act on its own to apply different capital requirements for insurance companies than those it has already mandated for banks, several senators said Tuesday.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is planning to eliminate its current employee performance management system after data showed minorities were rated lower than white employees.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has joined other regulators in seeking to simplify megabanks' myriad legal entities. But instead of being focused on helping a bank to unwind in a failure, the OCC argues simplification can greatly help operational efficiency.

It is still unresolved how regulators will apply capital requirements to insurance companies under the Dodd-Frank regime for systemic firms, but members of Congress are urging the Federal Reserve Board to be flexible.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau managers are far more likely to rate white employees highly than minorities, data obtained by American Banker shows. The figures reflect broad personnel problems inside the agency and are likely to give rise to claims that it's failing to uphold standards it punishes others for violating.

Predictions vary widely on how hard it will be for foreign banks to comply with a new capital rule from the Federal Reserve. Many will have to sell branches or loans, or they may just need to shuffle some legal paperwork, depending on whom you speak with.

Charles Taylor, a senior official at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said certain highly complex branches of foreign-owned institutions are being subjected to aspects of the agency's "heightened expectations" program.

Rules enacted last year appear to be steadily forcing banks to exit the mortgage servicing business, transferring such rights to nonbanks. The situation is stoking fears on Capitol Hill and elsewhere that regulators went too far.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency shuttered the $130 million-asset Millennium Bank in Sterling, Va., while Pennsylvania state regulators closed the $63 million-asset Vantage Bank in Horsham, Pa.

The Republican-led House approved a bill Thursday evening that would drastically alter the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Chances are remote that Congress will pass a big bank tax into law this year, but House Republicans' sudden embrace of the idea suggests it has staying power.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board will release the results of the latest round of stress testing exercises of the largest U.S. banks next month, the agency said Tuesday.

Recently released transcripts of Federal Reserve meetings during the last financial crisis reflect how blind policymakers remained to what was unfolding even at its peak. That suggests the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s efforts to sound an early warning next time around are reminiscent of Charlie Brown hoping Lucy won’t pull away the football.

Risk is like water, seeking the path of least resistance. If the path is narrowed, risk does not necessarily evaporate, as regulators wish, but often focuses as a more concentrated force. Accepting this alternative concept of risk has far-reaching policy consequences.

The chamber is scheduled to consider legislation this week that would drastically alter the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Regulators are facing mounting pressure from lawmakers and the financial industry to address ongoing concerns about the treatment of collateralized loan obligations under the Dodd-Frank Act, which critics warn could effectively destroy the market.

Continued focus on this single, but complex Dodd-Frank provision will distract bank managers and regulators from finding ways to make the global financial system healthier.

Prohibiting future ownership of unstable CLOs is probably a good thing. Forcing a select group of banks, however, to sell these assets over a short time is not the optimal solution.

Bankers, industry representatives and other experts largely praise the FDIC's plan to unwind troubled behemoths, but suggest a host of issues that the agency needs to address before it can ensure the end of "too big to fail."