Law and regulation

BancorpSouth quietly cut a deal in Arkansas that could undercut Florida claims in the overdraft case and save it millions. A federal judge is not amused.

Newly installed Comptroller Tom Curry faced a barrage of criticism over how JPMorgan lost more than $2 billion from trades in London and why regulators were not more aware of the severity of the threat.

House Democrats on Wednesday took aim at a controversial bill that would establish a self-regulatory organization to oversee retail investment advisers, raising a litany of concerns about the impact on small investment practices and diminishing the roles of existing federal and state authorities.

Businesses went knocking on banks' doors to ask for more loans over the past few months, boosting optimism that demand would continue to rise in the coming year, according to a Federal Reserve Board report released Wednesday.

Ignoring state appraisal laws may subject bank employees or third-party service providers to fines or even criminal penalties. National banks relying on federal preemption for appraisal laws should take another look at that assumption in light of Dodd-Frank.

The System Risk Council, which will be advised by Paul Volcker, will provide outside commentary on the progress of overhauling the regulatory system.

Here's a systemic risk bankers and regulators prefer not to discuss: Banks so big they get away with chronically unethical and illegal behavior.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is giving the participants in its "small business" review panel five additional days to offer comments on the agency's mortgage banking compensation proposals.

A federal judge dismissed Bank of America's lawsuit against units of Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas, a win for the two foreign banks in their $1.75 billion dispute over losses suffered when a subsidiary of disgraced mortgage lender Taylor Bean & Whitaker collapsed.

The banking industry's image is about as awful as it's ever been. But what needs to be done by whom, and at what cost, to fix it? Editor at Large Barb Rehm has some ideas.

On Wednesday, Occupy the SEC will be marching in Manhattan from JPMorgan Chase's downtown office to the SEC, calling for the agency to investigate Jamie Dimon himself for possible violation of the disclosure requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Comptroller Thomas Curry will tell Congress on Wednesday that the agency is trying to determine whether JPMorgan Chase told examiners enough. It is looking into what the agency could have done differently.

BNC Bancorp has no immediate plans to exit the program, despite recently raising $73 million from a private placement. CEO Swope Montgomery believes BNC's acquisitions will more than offset the current 5% borrowing rate for the Tarp funds.

Fannie Mae named its general counsel, Timothy Mayopoulos, as its next chief executive after he agreed to a sharp pay cut imposed by the mortgage-finance company's federal regulator.

Joseph Smith, who is responsible for monitoring the 49-state mortgage servicing settlement, plans to spread the work among multiple consulting firms.

In April the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a statement that it was adopting the "disparate impact" concept in its enforcement of the anti-discrimination provisions of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. It is doing so in a manner consistent with an Interagency Policy Statement issued in 1994 by the Department of Justice and other federal agencies involved with the enforcement of fair lending laws.

When a California bank took a former employee to court over his insulting statements on the Internet, an appellate court said his speech was protected from prosecution.

Recent delays by the CFPB and Treasury point toward a systemic policy malaise that threatens to make the housing recovery a decade-long event.

CresCom Bank in South Carolina filed a debt collection lawsuit against Myrtle Beach, S.C. automobile dealer Lavin Sales Inc. and co-owners, John and Howie Lavin, claiming the men and the business defaulted on two loans totaling more than $3.1 million.

As head of the Mortgage Bankers Association, David H. Stevens spent the last year warning that excessive and ill-considered regulation could drag down the mortgage market. As the new head of SunTrust Mortgage, he'll have to face that regulation head-on.