Law and regulation

The FDIC issued four consent orders against banks in July, after doling out three a month earlier. The agency used to hand out 10 or more a month.

WASHINGTON — State regulators closed First Commercial Bank in Bloomington, Minn., late Friday in the industry's 41st failure this year.

Regulators lifted an enforcement action against Anchor Bank in Lacey, Wash., and replaced it with a softer one.

There is still some hope to save Basel III, if regulators show a willingness to accept the reality that true harmonization is likely unachievable, according to a new paper by analyst Karen Shaw Petrou.

Mortgage Resolution Partners, the firm pushing municipalities to seize loans for borrowers owing more than their homes' values, said it would expand its proposed program to include delinquent and defaulted debt.

Under pressure from a regulator solely focused on protecting the consumers' financial interest, many banks have started abandoning suspect practices. Let’s keep it that way.

Virtual Piggy will integrate its youth payments technology into skateboard brand GoldCoast's e-commerce system.

The Financial Stability Board has set a March deadline for financial companies to have "legal entity identifiers," in place for use in transactions. These codes, something like a social security number for banks, are to be used by the Office of Financial Research, created by Dodd-Frank, to spot systemic risk.

When Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin bragged about his vote against the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, it inadvertently highlighted other Dems, like Vice President Joe Biden, who voted the other way.

An educational computer game from Visa and the National Football League allows players to move up and down the field and score points by correctly answering questions that test their financial literacy.

Rep. Barney Frank blasted Mitt Romney, who has said he would repeal the Dodd-Frank Act, at a speech in Charlotte, reports American Banker’s Kevin Wack.

Unpredictable card terms and conditions make it hard for small-business owners to budget. If they can't allocate funds with confidence, they're less likely to hire employees, hurting the economy.

M&T's bid for Hudson City has the deal world abuzz with talk of who'll be next. The Fed, meanwhile, is trying to calm angry community bankers as the entire industry mulls the implications of the November election.

Retail credit unions can improve their net worth only through retained earnings. That's made a stressful period for all financial institutions particularly challenging for this category. Let them raise capital.

State attorneys general are pressing four regional banks — U.S. Bancorp, PNC, SunTrust and HSBC — to accept a settlement over botched foreclosures akin to a deal reached with big banks earlier this year.

MasterCard has acquired Truaxis Inc., a Silicon Valley start-up that crunches payment data to target special offers and discounts from merchants to debit and credit cardholders.

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, who co-authored the 2010 financial regulatory overhaul, blasted Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney Thursday for his opposition to the law.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated an enforcement order against Rosholt Bancorp in Wisconsin.

The American Bankers Association voted Thursday to create a SuperPAC for bankers — but it has an alternative structure from Friends of Traditional Banking, the only other banking SuperPAC.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke doesn't want community bankers to stay up at night worrying about Dodd-Frank. Most of the provisions don't apply, he says. Well, what about the concern that the big bank requirements eventually be the norm for all? He assures us that won't be the case.