Law and regulation

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has released PVF Capital's (PVFC) bank unit from an enforcement order after the Solon, Ohio, bank met capital requirements.

Midsize banks will most likely not have to go through stress tests mandated by Dodd-Frank until September 2013. The rulemaking on the tests has yet to be finalized and regulators want to make sure those banks have enough time to prepare.

Hampton Roads Bankshares finds itself between a rock and a hard place. As a Tarp participant, it has refused to pay severance to several former executives. Several of those officers, including former CEO Jack Gibson, filed lawsuits asserting that their employment contracts preempt the Tarp prohibition.

With their "Project Oscar" mobile payment joint venture remaining uncertain because of a regulator's investigations, major European telcos are turning to traditional payment companies to get back in the mobile payments game. MasterCard's new five-year agreement with Everything Everywhere is a case in point.

Bain Capital's relationship with auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers, though not necessarily inappropriate, is still too casual and in need of more monitoring.

The presidential election is beginning to overshadow most issues. Want proof? Three of the top five stories from last week were directly related to the campaign, including the banking SuperPAC's move to target races and a preview of the political conventions.

The banking industry earned $34.5 billion in the second quarter as continued declines in loan loss expenses outpaced a reduction in net interest margins, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday.

As the Republican convention kicks into high gear this week, don't expect the headliners to spend much time discussing the Dodd-Frank Act, much less its specific parts.

Thrift holding companies, industrial loan companies and other limited-charter financial institutions will be subject to a rule, mandated by Dodd-Frank, that will require parent companies to act as a "source of strength."

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has issued an enforcement order against Citizens First National Bank that requires the Princeton, Ill., bank to become adequately capitalized or sell itself.

Most of the program's participants are increasing business loans, though some are having to reduce lending rates to book the best loans.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro may have lost the first round in her push to reform the $2.6 trillion money market mutual fund industry, but the fight has only just begun.

The Dodd-Frank Act gives the Securities Investor Protection Corp. a new role in unwinding failed financial companies.

With credit quality still improving in corporate loans shared by multiple banks, the financial industry produced the first increase in shared credits in three years. Yet deterioration is still higher than norms.

The regulatory risk from Basel III, Dodd-Frank and other pressures will keep banks from growing, and the economy can't grow, if banks don't.

The Federal Reserve Board said Monday it is considering offering certain smaller-sized financial institutions more time before they have to undergo an annual stress test.

Prospects for the Visa/MasterCard antitrust settlement received another jolt last week when the Retail Industry Leaders Association weighed in against the terms, joining other influential opponents of the landmark deal.

The consumer agency announced a series of changes in the wake of a key defection.

Tight budgets and industry upheaval have bankers and their lobbyists planning to keep low profiles in Tampa and Charlotte.

Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit said regulators shouldn't dictate what banks can sell to clients because such controls risk undermining financial stability and have no clear economic benefit.