Law and regulation

In the new book "The Lost Bank," a reporter who chronicled Washington Mutual's rise and fall offers new details about its collapse and what it says about the banking system.

Words like "oppressive" and "harsh" have been replace recently by terms like "fair" and "cooperative" in bankers' descriptions of how examiners are treating them. Thanks to go mostly to the improved condition of many institutions.

Occupy protestors staged sit-ins at a foreclosed home in Minneapolis that resulted in 20 arrests. Problem is, the homeowners had vacated the property weeks before the protestors arrived.

True markets are transparent, competitive, regulated and fair. None of these adjectives accurately describes the CDS business.

When the going gets rough, you find out who your friends are. In Jamie Dimon's case, they're legion. He's recently been endorsed by, among others: Spencer Bachus (chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services), Richard Fisher (CEO of the Dallas Fed) and even Brian Moynihan (his competitor).

Regulators shuttered four banks Friday evening — totaling $676 million of assets — that combined are estimated to cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. about $80 million.

IMGCAP(1)]

In interviews with two dozen bankers, regulators and outside experts, most point to a significant improvement between how bankers and examiners interact.

Citigroup Inc. will submit a second capital plan to the Federal Reserve — without a request a capital distribution to shareholders.

The former head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission joined lawmakers on Friday that were protesting GOP-proposed cuts to the agency's funding.

The Federal Housing Administration announced plans Friday to expand a program that encourages the sale of distressed mortgages to new investors.

The non-profit group said four of the top 12 banks including BB&T Corp., HSBC Finance Corp., Regions Financial, and Capital One Financial Corp. did not disclose the size of overdraft penalty fees in writing either on checking account home pages or on the Web pages describing specific accounts.

John Court has joined the Clearing House Association as senior vice president and associate general counsel.

A restful night of sleep might be on the short list of priorities for a central banker — or at least one would hope so.

Judicial Watch Inc. has filed suit in federal court claiming the CFPB failed to provide a proper response to several Freedom of Information Requests concerning the recess appointment of Richard Cordray to head the agency.

A number of state officials are trying to move deposits to community banks, though it is unclear if smaller institutions have the capacity or regulatory blessing needed to hold the funds.

An Oregon man was sentenced to eight years in prison Thursday for his role in a commercial collection scam that bilked nearly $6 million from 680 victims.

"I wouldn't want to be buying a foreclosure, then have the title examiner find that a robo-signer had participated in the process," says Massachusetts' register of deeds.

Banks and governments have not been required to account for the way in which, when important firms fall deeper into distress, implicit and explicit taxpayer guarantees absorb much of the markdowns that would otherwise have to occur.

The New Jersey bank offers cheap mortgage refis, but their fine print means that some customers end up paying additional interest or taxes — and complaining about the extra costs.