Law and regulation

Julie Williams, one of the nation's pivotal regulators for large banks, announced her departure from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency effective Sept. 30.

C. Boyden Gray, the lawyer involved in the suit challenging the constitutionality of the CFPB, writes in the Washington Times that "the new regulatory regime primarily helps the big banks while placing its heaviest burdens on community banks.”

It's well known in Washington that August is meant to be a dead time, as lawmakers return to their home states to campaign and regulators take the month off. But last week proved the exception to the rule, with action on mortgage servicing, eminent domain and Basel III. Here are some of the highlights:

Regulators currently entrusted with the task of policing Wall Street are facing a well-funded, well-connected and politically shrewd beast.

Many in the industry have criticized the length — 1,400 pages — of the CFPB’s recently proposed rule on mortgage disclosure forms and fees. Why so many pages in order to get simpler forms?

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sued banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (C) over $388 million in securities sold to Colonial Bank.

First National Community Bancorp (FNCB) has finally caught up on its financial reports for 2011 — now on to 2012.

Banking trade groups are furious about a move by the National Credit Union Administration to notify more than 1,000 credit unions that they may not need to comply with a cap on business lending.

As expiration dates near for FDIC loss-sharing agreements inked in 2008, more failed bank buyers are looking to unload loans before the coverage runs out. As a result, they face growing pressure to book new loans to replace the ones they are trying to run off.

The Lansing, Mich., company has turned to court to try and recapitalize itself. The move would leave all existing stakeholders with a 53% equity stake in the company. Capitol, meanwhile, is still searching for an investor to take the other 47%.

The special inspector general for Tarp worked in the subbasement of the Treasury Department. Watchdogs given an inconvenient, dank, dark, dirty and desolate office maybe won't stay long.

Despite the lagging economy, which has left many students graduating from college with fewer, if any, job prospects, there is cause for optimism in the medium term, the Fed chairman told teachers at a Town Hall meeting last week.

The former chairman of the Securities Industry Association jumps into the Glass-Steagall debate. But instead of championing the revival of Depression-era law that separated commercial and investment banking, he'd like to revive the SIA’s proposed legislation from the 1990s.

JPMorgan Chase will contribute about $1.2 billion to settle a price-fixing case brought by retailers over credit-card swipe fees.

Visa, and MasterCard have until Oct. 19 to formally request approval of a more than $6 billion settlement to a lawsuit over interchange fees, according to a filing unsealed in Brooklyn, New York, federal court.

In a recent report the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau provided details about its consumer complaint database. In its first year of operation 43% of the complaints the agency has received have been about mortgages and 34% were about credit cards.

New York's financial-services regulator has grounds to shut Standard Chartered in the state even if he accepts the firm's argument that it illegally laundered only a fraction of the $250 billion he claims.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a proposal Friday that would require mortgage servicers to provide clear monthly statements, earlier disclosures for interest rate adjustments and options to help borrowers avoid foreclosures and costly force-placed insurance.

Housing activists and other progressives pushed the president Thursday to oust Edward DeMarco and to dedicate more resources to investigating the run-up to the 2008 crisis.

Stories about buyout groups dissolving and heavy-handed regulation make private equity sound like the dog that never barked in banking. But such firms have notched hundreds of deals since the crisis, and the rollup machines they've created are poised to keep going.