Law and regulation

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is required under Dodd-Frank to study the reverse mortgage sector, has found that the products "are not being used as intended, with increasingly younger borrowers taking out larger pots of money rather than gradual income streams to help finance their later years," writes American Banker's Joe Adler in his coverage of the bureau's report.

Eighteen institutions (and counting) are accused of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In a case that could have narrowed the ability to sue under numerous consumer protection laws, the Supreme Court decided Thursday not to issue a ruling, saying that it was wrong to hear the case in the first place.

The CFPB finalized a rule Thursday that seeks to ensure that information banks give the bureau through supervision retains attorney-client privilege.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond has ordered Village Bank and Trust Financial in Midlothian, Va., to serve as a source of strength for its ailing bank subsidiary.

The Government Accountability Office put new pressure on the agency to make a decision after months of foot-dragging.

Regulators are taking a hard look at payday lending practices, and that could give banks an unprecedented edge over storefront operators.

Merchants may feel overwhelmed at the abundance of new payment technologies, and they are understandably worried about investing in the wrong one. Terminal vendors are hoping to address those fears.

In a report released Thursday, the Government Accountability Office flagged concerns about the rising use of appraisal management companies as well as the government's oversight of the appraisal industry.

PNC Bank reached a $90 million settlement this week in a class-action lawsuit over excessive overdraft fees, the latest of several big banks to do so.

Though loan competition remains fierce, most banks are unwilling to relax their underwriting policies until the economy heals.

Much time and energy was spent on a campaign to regulate an optional service consumers could avoid paying for. Meanwhile, mortgage securitization was going gangbusters. Priorities were perhaps misplaced.

A government watchdog has found that the Federal Home Loan banks increasingly turned to offering short-term, unsecured credit to financial institutions exposed to the turmoil in Europe as their own core business dwindled.

The Treasury Department will receive roughly $204 million from its latest auctions selling off the preferred shares of seven financial institutions from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

John C. Dugan, former comptroller of the currency, and T. Timothy Ryan Jr., former director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, insist that, despite some recent assertions to the contrary, the Dodd-Frank Act really does put end to the too-big-to-fail status of big banks.

During the boom, accounting rules kept banks from building thicker buffers against losses. This left them in a weaker position when the crisis hit. It's time to fix the mistake.

Dodd-Frank-required study finds borrowers are younger and seniors are increasingly taking out bigger loans.

In a startling report, the FHFA's inspector general said that the Home Loan banks extended credit to firms on the brink of failure, in part to make up for declining advances.

Seven months after it was created through the merger of Nara Bancorp and Center Financial, BBCN (BBCN) Bancorp in Los Angeles has repaid the funds its two predecessor companies received from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The House took a key step June 27 toward passing bipartisan legislation that would end a rash of lawsuits over missing ATM fee disclosure signs.