Law and regulation

After months of operating without any major snags, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday the current version of its consumer complaint database is here to stay.

The regulatory maze currently being created under the pretext of helping the consumer and preventing the next housing bust will do neither and will continue to impede the recovery.

Banks have recovered maybe $1 billion in tax assets written down because of doubts about future profitability. As third quarter reports approach, that leaves more than $5 billion to go.

Public-private partnerships designed to dispose of banks’ costly noncore assets allow governments to transform themselves into facilitators of a banking revival, banks to bolster their balance sheets and private investors to gain access to a pool of profitable assets providing attractive rates of return.

Mitt Romney may be getting impatient for the final rule on the "qualified mortgage" definition from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but lenders are taking their best – and very conservative – guess at it for now.

The Kansas City, Mo., firm blamed tougher capital rules for its decision to explore alternatives to the savings and loan holding company charter.

The agency is cracking down on three mortgage relief firms that promise to help cash-strapped borrowers hold onto their homes while delivering little help and driving them deeper into debt.

In a video interview with American Banker, former FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said that TAG should be extended, but phased out gradually over a two year timeframe.

Former FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair finally offers an opinion on whether to extend TAG, worrying that it's abrupt end would only help too big to fail banks and the money market mutual fund industry.

Banks who received funding through the Small Business Lending Fund have increased small business lending by $6.7 billion, or 27.4%, over baseline levels, the Treasury Department said Tuesday.

Mid-sized banks will enjoy more time to comply with stress tests required under Dodd-Frank, while the FDIC simplifies large banks' reporting requirements under agency's deposit insurance assessment scheme.

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) was sued by the U.S. government over claims the bank committed fraud by making reckless mortgage loans, according to a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.

Senator David Vitter (R- La.) predicts that regulators, using their authority under Dodd-Frank, will "once again bail out Wall Street and its creditors, perhaps with some feel-good (and probably politicized) restructuring of those firms for window dressing" when the next financial crisis hits.

FHFA is admirably trying to design a platform that will work under any future scenario for the mortgage market. But history shows large-scale projects can fall victim to sheer complexity.

Swipe fees jumped at an annual rate of 40% in the second quarter among a group of institutions subject to the new debit card price caps. Interactive data on interchange revenue at 900 companies.

A Philadelphia company that used telemarketing services to pitch platinum credit cards has settled charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission.

Federal regulators on Tuesday finalized measures requiring annual stress tests for all medium- and large-sized banks.

Many lenders are pushing ahead with tight new borrowing requirements as they wait for regulators define a "qualified mortgage," as required by Dodd-Frank.

A non-profit organization is launching a campaign to make sure bank employees know about new whistleblower protections under the Dodd-Frank Act.

New companies are constantly entering the payments industry, bringing not just new products but also new ways of doing business. And they don't always play nice.