Law and regulation

Jon Rymer, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s chief watchdog, will temporarily run the Securities and Exchange's inspector general office while the SEC seeks a permanent watchdog, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The Senate Banking Committee announced Thursday that it has invited JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon to testify about the firm's $2 billion trading loss. A bank spokeswoman said Dimon has agreed to testify.

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard reiterated Thursday banks deemed "too big to fail" should be split up.

The Senate confirmed Jeremy Stein and Jerome Powell to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors on Thursday, ending a six-year stretch where the board operated at less than full capacity.

United Community Banks in Blairsville, Ga., received a subpoena and a notice of formal investigation from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to its deferred tax asset valuation allowances and goodwill impairment charges taken in 2009 and 2010.

Dangers involving people, processes and systems are now a greater danger to big banks than credit risk, according to Comptroller Thomas Curry. The statement may be one of many knockoff effects of JPMorgan Chase's recent trading loss.

The world's largest financial institutions may need to raise more than $500 billion to meet new global capital standards on the horizon, according to a report from Fitch Ratings that warned of the impact the rules could have on the ability of institutions to increase dividends or repurchase shares.

Every year, despite the risks and high costs, millions of Americans turn to payday loans for emergency funds. To date, a top-down, regulatory approach has been the primary means of addressing the downsides of the payday lending industry. To improve protection of consumers and encourage this industry to mature, such regulation should be joined by efforts that encourage market transparency.

Despite strong bipartisan support, a bill that would provide banks greater assurance of confidentiality when they provide information to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau remains mired in the Senate.

"It is about saving the financial economy, not saving a firm," says Jim Wigand, the 28-year FDIC veteran tasked by Congress with ending Too-Big-to-Fail bailouts.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc, the U.K.'s second-biggest government-backed lender, suspended at least two derivatives traders in a probe of potential interest-rate manipulation, two people briefed on the matter said.

Lawmakers hear of unintended consequences from shared-equity transactions designed to dispose of excess failed-bank assets.

I was surprised and disappointed by Jim Well's BankThink piece"Are Small Banks Big Banks' Pawns in Assault on Dodd-Frank?". As chair of the American Bankers Association's Community Bankers Council, I have the honor and responsibility of being a spokesperson for the community banking industry. I take this job seriously, and took great care to report on the growing regulatory burden that is suffocating our nation's small — but vital — financial institutions.

On Tuesday, Wells Fargo took its shot at overturning a landmark 2010 district court judgment against its overdraft fees and practices.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus defended JPMorgan Chase on Wednesday from criticism of its $2 billion trading loss.

Possible violations of state and federal laws could jeopardize Costco's mortgage partnership program with several small banks. Some lawyers believe Costco should become a registered mortgage broker to comply with existing regulations.

Operational risk has replaced credit risk as the major safety and soundness challenge for national banks, Comptroller Thomas Curry said at a speech in Washington on Wednesday.

Jamie Dimon may no longer be President Obama's favorite banker, but the president is still apparently a fan of Dimon's bank.

ORLANDO–Banks want to strike gold again in payments, but they are still struggling to figure out which river to pan.

The recently passed Jumpstart Our Business Startups ("JOBS 2012") Act had the laudable goal of giving small companies easier passage to IPOs, but it did so by unwinding some Sarbanes-Oxley protections and permitting a new method of financing called crowd-funding.