Law and regulation

Maybe George Bailey should've jumped — and made his savings and loan a commercial bank. If he had, he'd have been much better prepared for the Fed's decision to raise certain capital requirements, a move some are calling the death knell for the classic thrift business model: lend to home buyers like crazy.

As with housing, different bank markets across the country have crashed and recovered at different speeds. Measured by institutions with high Texas ratios, stress has tapered quickly in states like Washington and California, but remains elevated in Georgia, Illinois and Florida.

Home Depot told shareholders that interchange price controls would add "$35 million a year" to the bottom line. Why should consumers now believe the company has chosen not to keep these newfound gains for itself?

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.

Both Democrats and Republicans went easy on Jamie Dimon at the Senate Banking Committee hearing on June 13, but GOP fawning over the JPMorgan chief executive drew the ire of "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart on Thursday night.

We need a system in which credit bureaus are required to sell consumer data at a uniform price to any company with permission to access it, instead of pricing out perceived competitive threats or withholding the information.

A senior Consumer Financial Protection Bureau official brought the agency's charm offensive to the West Coast, praising bankers and non-bank executives for providing financial services to poor consumers.

The party-line vote sets up a showdown with House Republicans over the budget of an agency that plays a key role in implementing Dodd-Frank.

More banks may decide to sell if they conclude Congress will not renew the capital gains tax cut, Deloitte's Sharon Weinstein says.

The constant criticism from Congress just makes the rulemaking process longer without adding much to the debate.

Student borrowers said private student loan debt is hampering their ability to get married, start a family, buy a house or even work in their field of choice.

New York financial firms would move jobs overseas if the U.S. grants the industry's request to exempt companies' foreign branches from some Dodd-Frank Act rules, said Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

A proposal by regulators to revamp the way banks must measure risk on certain assets is alarming many community bankers, who argue it will raise capital requirements, increase compliance costs and curb lending.

The Birmingham bank is adding to its new line of financial services for low-income and other underbanked customers.

We need stronger cross-border regulatory enforcement to spot U.S firms going to London for looser rules. Guess what MF Global, Lehman, AIG and the London Whale have in common.

The 2008 bailout program may have worked as intended, but Wells Fargo's Former CEO still insists it did more harm than good.

The Dimon Senate hearing was a missed opportunity to spotlight the criticality of risk management practices. When banks get into trouble, you can follow the trail back to a lack of governance, process and controls.

The Federal Reserve and Commerzbank have reached an agreement over the German bank's antimoney-laundering controls and testing.

The Treasury Department has successfully sold off its shares in seven more community banks as part of its ongoing effort to wind down the four-year-old Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Many so-called consumer advocates doubt consumers can make responsible decisions about credit and believe they should be "protected" from certain financial products. We did not sense this sort of patronizing viewpoint from the new agency.