Law and regulation

Leonard Chanin, the lawyer leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s rule making operation, has been rehired by the law firm Morrison & Foerster, writes American Banker’s Jeff Horowitz.

HSBC, under investigation by U.S. regulators for laundering funds of sanctioned nations including Iran and Sudan, is in talks to settle the matter, two people with knowledge of the case said.

Almost four years after Fannie Mae was put into conservatorship, Treasury has yet to erase skepticism that the nation's biggest mortgage financier is as secure as Ginnie Mae.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated a written agreement with Valley Financial that required the Roanoke, Va., company to serve as a source of strength for its bank.

The SEC's final rule on conflict minerals coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a "feel good" measure that doesn't accomplish what it intended, argues a Wall Street Journal editorial.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's role in the $182.3 billion rescue of American International Group Inc. has ended on a high.

The agency discusses recent steps by financial institutions to participate in healthy-food investment cooperatives, and says lenders could earn Community Reinvestment Act credit for spurring such activities in areas that need it.

Ethics plays a significant role in a company's overall value and performance. CEOs and CFOs should be working to protect their businesses - and themselves - from violations.

Agency tasked with overseeing resolutions of systemically risky firms will get assist from the SIPC when a broker-dealer is involved. But how exactly will their collaboration work?

ProPublica this week became the latest media outlet to start tracking banks' recent scandals, from JPMorgan's London Whale to HSBC's money-laundering issues.

The sad reality is that an unregulated shadow financial system pushed explosive subprime loans.

If the networks don't voluntarily implement more reasonable pricing, merchants will steer consumers to cheaper alternatives and there will soon be nothing left to fight about.

The CFPB proposed a revised rule for mortgage fees that would allow paying down points for interest on home loans.

The banking SuperPAC is eyeing seven candidates — four Republicans and three Democrats — as it decides what two races to support in late September or early October. Following is the short list of who is under consideration.

SunTrust Banks (STI) said Wednesday that the Federal Reserve Board did not object to its revised capital plan.

Industry observers are advising more community banks with trust-preferred securities to raise capital now before Basel III puts them at odds with regulators.

Morrison & Foerster announced Wednesday that it was rehiring Leonard Chanin, a former firm attorney who most recently spent a year and a half heading up the 40 attorneys in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rulemaking operation.

Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit said supermarket banking, a strategy pursued by his firm in past decades to provide all financial products including insurance, no longer fits the times.

Glenn Hubbard, an economic advisor to Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, praised Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday — a break from GOP members that have been widely critical of the central banker.

The SEC rolled out its first whistle-blower award on Tuesday, a $50,000 payment to an anonymous informant who helped bring down a Ponzi scheme. So far, the government has recovered $150,000.