Law and regulation

The Small Business Lending Enhancement Act would let credit unions help small businesses and our economy without costing taxpayers a dime. Whether lifting the cap creates one job or 1,000, it would be a success.

Two measures that the banking industry is hoping to see pass in the Senate are being stymied by Republican Sen. Jim DeMint. His hold on the bill that combines the two measures is "an effort to force a symbolic vote on repealing" on Dodd-Frank, writes American Banker's Kevin Wack.

U.S. payment-card industry rivals have decided to come together, at least for a few days, to better navigate the gargantuan task of migrating to the modern EMV chip-card standard by 2015.

The Supreme Court punts on resolving an eagerly watched RESPA lawsuit.

The investigation into what the regulators knew, and when, is just beginning.

Stiffer oversight of banks with assets of $50 billion or more will keep New York Community Bancorp, of Westbury, N.Y., out of the M&A game until a major acquisition comes along, CEO Joseph Ficalora says.

A former Minnesota Vikings tight end has reached a settlement with federal regulators over his alleged misdeeds at a Minneapolis-area community bank.

David Cohen, the Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, urged banks and others in the financial industry to weigh in on a regulatory plan to require institutions to identify beneficial ownership of their account holders.

Industry groups want lawmakers to extend Dodd-Frank's unlimited insurance for transaction deposits, which is now mandatory for all banks. But TAG used to be voluntary, and some say it should be again.

"Federal Reserve Board Gov. Sarah Bloom Raskin urged regulators to narrow a proposed exemption to the Volcker Rule, saying it may allow banks to avoid compliance with the ban on proprietary trading," writes American Banker's Donna Boraks.

Many large merchants expressed outrage at the apparent laxity of the Federal Reserve Board's finalized rule that will allow non-exempt debit card issuers to collect a 1-cent fraud-prevention adjustment on debit card transactions.

This is no time to start unwinding the largest banks. There's enough uncertainty in this fragile economy. But starting a conversation now about the costs and benefits will lay the groundwork for sound action when conditions improve.

Legislation proposed by Democratic Sen. Tom Carper and Republican Sen. Roy Blunt could relieve some of the burden that financial institutions currently bear.

Edward DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, on Tuesday defied both the Obama administration and widespread expectations that he would cave to a torrent of political pressure and allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offer principal reductions to troubled borrowers.

Visa Europe was sent an antitrust complaint from EU regulators over the fees it charges to process cross-border credit-card payments.

A year after the Fed enacted the Durbin amendment, predictions that swipe fee reform would kill free checking, hurt credit unions and stifle competition have failed to come true.

The modern, neo-Glass-Steagall advocacy has a mystical quality about it, an appeal that proposes to rise above the tough debate over the thorny details and reach back to a mythical time when bank regulation worked so very well.

Dodd-Frank "however good its intentions, has not and will not protect us against another meltdown," writes former senator Ted Kaufman. He's concerned about the growing size of big banks and what he views as fatal flaws in living wills. Want to really protect against another meltdown? Add that Kaufman-Brown amendment to the legistlation.

The FDIC's original blanket coverage for transaction accounts allowed institutions to opt out or pay extra fees to participate. But industry groups say extending Dodd-Frank's version of the coverage, which eliminated fees and made participation compulsory, is the only way to go.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board approved a final rule on debit card interchange fees to make an adjustment for fraud-prevention costs.