Law and regulation

Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair was always known for speaking her mind, even when she ran the agency from 2006 to 2011. But in her new book Bull by the Horns," an excerpt of which was featured on Fortune last week, Bair offers a very candid commentary about what she actually thought of the executives running the nation's largest banks during the financial crisis. Following is a small sampling of those views, based on the excerpt, which detailed the fateful meeting in 2008 when the Treasury Department forced the largest banks to accept $25 billion in capital.

Discover Financial Services has agreed to refund hundreds of millions of dollars to settle a regulatory probe of its credit card marketing practices.

As long as the federal government can print money at will, the politicians (both Democrats and Republicans) will accumulate debt until the United States experiences a financial collapse.

MetLife (MET) has found a new forum for a deal the company hopes will free it from banking regulators.

Discover Financial Services (DFS) has agreed to refund hundreds of millions of dollars to settle a regulatory probe of its credit card marketing practices.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romeny released a housing white paper Friday, calling for GSE reform and repeal of Dodd-Frank.

While legal experts still question the suit now taken up by Michigan, Oklahoma and South Carolina, their participation helps to build momentum in the legal fight over Dodd-Frank.

Standard Chartered Bank has finalized a $340 million settlement with New York's top banking regulator to settle charges the bank laundered hundreds of billions of dollars for banks and others in Iran.

Members of Technology Credit Union rejected management's plan to convert to a mutual thrift. The vote has led to renewed criticism about the National Credit Union Administration's role in conversion votes.

Ohio regulators sued Sylvania, Ohio-based Collection & Recovery Bureau for allegedly using collection tactics banned by federal law.

Will lenders get a safe harbor against borrower lawsuits about underwriting in the "qualified mortgage" rule? Or will the CFPB opt for a "rebuttable presumption"? The agency's director says the differences between the two are "in some ways overstated." Either way he promises some bright lines to "minimize litigation risk."

The House Ethics Committee indicated that it will find the California Democrat did not violate any ethics or House rules at a hearing Friday, though her grandson and chief of staff could receive a letter of reproval.

Trading revenues at commercial banks fell 73% in the second quarter from a year earlier, due in part to a $2 billion loss by Jamie Dimon's JPMorgan Chase.

The National Credit Union Administration has announced that Gigi Hyland is resigning from its three-member board on Oct. 5.

If TAG is senselessly allowed to expire, many depositors may sever their relationships with the smaller banks in their communities and opt to place their money under the "protection" of the Too Big to Fail institutions.

The company paid roughly $939,000 to repurchase a warrant that would have allowed the Treasury Department to buy about 543,300 shares of BNC's common stock at $8.63 per share, BNC said in a regulatory filing Thursday.

Big banks hire a former governor (Pawlenty) as their top lobbyist. An FDIC official (Hoenig) slams their behavior. And the FHFA proposes linking GSE fees to foreclosure costs.

A task force led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and formed to probe misconduct in the mortgage market during the run-up to the financial crisis may be getting ready to take action.

Central clearing for over-the-counter contracts will undoubtedly reduce risks, but the market still has multiple regulators and multiple sets of rules for different players and for different instruments.

The attorneys general for Oklahoma, South Carolina and Michigan have joined a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Dodd-Frank Act. They filed a complaint in U.S. District court about provisions in the legislation allowing the FDIC and Treasury to unwind troubled companies.