Law and regulation

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office has secured a judgment against Michael J. Covatto, the former president of defunct collection agency Unicredit America Inc., that means he will owe money to the state and possibly Unicredit's former debtors.

The qualified mortgage definition was the topic of a House subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, part of a six-hearing campaign by Republicans challenging Dodd-Frank.

Gearing up for the two-year anniversary of Dodd-Frank House Republican's launched a campaign "to convince the electorate that Dodd-Frank's rules are hurting everyday Americans rather than just the financial sector,” writes American Banker’s Kevin Wack.

A new museum exhibit chronicles the history of New York's banking scene.

San Bernardino County is forging ahead with deliberations on a proposal to seize underwater mortgages, despite its largest city's decision to seek bankruptcy. But industry members say the bankruptcy could interrupt funding for the plan.

With new entrants from China, fresh capital could be made available to entrepreneurs and business owners who otherwise might fail to find financing. Also, remember the fears in the 1980s that the Japanese were buying up America?

Dozens of small banks have substantially increased commercial and industrial lending over the past few years. Supervisors are worried that some may be chasing unfamiliar business down a blind alley.

International Bancshares (IBOC) in Laredo, Texas, has repurchased $40 million of preferred stock that it issued to the Treasury Department under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Members of the GOP-controlled House once again debated the impact — and potential pitfalls — of a section of the Dodd-Frank Act, with the subject du jour concerning so-called QM regulation.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau proposed two new rules regarding mortgages. One is intended to simply mortgage forms and disclosures. The second would lower broaden the definition of a "high-cost loan" and tighten the rules for them.

If the government could eliminate contract rights in this way, then it would be hard to imagine what contracts could not be set aside in the name of market efficiency.

The government has failed to publicly vet its use of auctions to dispose of its remaining Troubled Asset Relief Program holdings. That leaves too many questions unanswered about its exit plans.

John Allison, the former chairman and CEO of BB&T, recently agreed to become the president and CEO of the Cato Institute, a leading libertarian think tank. He joins a growing list of former bank executives who are trying their hand at something totally unrelated to banking.

Barb Pacheco of the Kansas City Fed is keeping a close eye on mobile payment innovation, to help steer the course of new initiatives and to determine what regulators' role will be.

The real losers would be the biggest banks, the holders of second liens, not investors in first mortgages. Those investors might come out ahead, and homeowners and municipalities certainly would.

The new message focuses on a targeted approach to repealing certain provisions — rather than the whole law — and trying to convince everyday Americans they too will suffer the consequences of new rules for the financial industry.

Dodd-Frank rules on swaps can move forward now that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission voted on the definition of such trades.

Architects of the emerging mobile-payments industry may not have bargained on potentially significant regulations some legal experts are envisioning for it.

Federal bank regulators Tuesday recommended that financial institutions take special precaution when using third-party cloud computing services.

The House voted unanimously late Monday to repeal the nearly 20-year-old requirement that automated teller machines have physical placards notifying users of fees.