Law and regulation

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. As excerpted from the Comments sections of AmericanBanker.com articles.

Report finds that smaller credit spreads helped lower the exposure in the first quarter of the year, but the continuing risks from the European debt crisis have some traders interested in higher returns.

The conventional wisdom is that Dodd-Frank compliance expenses are a significant drag on bank budgets. Sounds obvious, right?

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced agreements this week with two Western New York debt collectors, permanently barring one from the collection business and requiring the other one to pay $175,000 in penalties.

Bankers have been complaining that the signature financial bill would send their compliance-related expenses through the roof. So far, the numbers indicate otherwise.

A Texas community bank is leading a lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that national banks do not have to comply with a state law that required certain disclosures for convenience checks, another court victory for preemption advocates following changes to the law made by the Dodd-Frank Act.

Moody's downgraded a handful of banks and securities companies with global capital-market operations, including Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and HSBC.

Among the strongest industry rationales for a national mortgage servicing settlement was that it would break the legal stalemate over a huge backlog of delinquent loans. But five months after the deal was formally struck, the promised spike in foreclosures hasn't arrived.

Rep. Barney Frank joined Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren on Thursday to argue that Republicans will undo top provisions of Dodd-Frank if they capture the Senate this year.

The SEC chief's ideas for reforming the money market fund industry received a cool reception Thursday from members of the Senate Banking Committee.

Fees paid to outside auditors appear to have been relatively stable in recent years. So have legal expenses for smaller institutions since mid-2010, when the 2,000-odd pages of the Dodd-Frank Act became law.

Homeowners who faced wrongful foreclosure actions due to big banks' mortgage servicing failures are entitled to cash payments of as little as $1,000 to up to $125,000, according to new federal guidelines. But consumer advocates say that disparity is too wide.

The Federal Reserve Board has entered into written agreements with two companies requiring them to serve as sources of strength for their banks.

We at the FDIC continue to believe the small-dollar loan model is replicable and that these loans can be cost-effective and responsive to the needs of both consumers and bankers.

Regulators issued new guidance Thursday designed to provide relief for military homeowners who must move quickly to comply with orders.

Pinnacle Financial Partners (PNFP) in Nashville has repaid the remaining $71.6 million of the $95 million it received from the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program in December 2008.

The State National Bank of Big Spring in Texas is leading a lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, becoming the first known community bank to file a lawsuit against the agency.

The question has been hanging: Which bank will be the first to put the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to a legal test? Finally, we have an answer.

The risky practices at and implicit taxpayer guarantee for systemically dangerous megabanks are driving consumers to community-based banks.