Law and regulation

Pay for bank CEOs increased a median 16% in 2011 among a group of 160 banks. Growth was particularly brisk at institutions with less than $20 billion of assets, where CEO compensation measured 2% of total payroll expenses, a far higher level than at larger banks.

Consumer groups are still angry over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's decision to revise a rule on credit card fees in light of a recent court ruling. But others say it was a smart play for an agency that must pick its battles.

"White paper" by Hawke and Litan says institutions do not get the same "value" out of their exams following the crisis as they did before the crisis.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working to finalize the definition of a Qualified Mortgage under the forthcoming ability-to-pay regulations. These regulations will have profound implications for the entire U.S. residential mortgage market.

A coalition of 23 banking industry trade groups urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Friday to adopt a safe harbor protection from lawsuits for lenders that originate qualified mortgages when the bureau issues a final rule this year.

Unlike Treasury's much-derided Tarp program, the FDIC's crisis-era guarantee of unsecured debt had a stabilizing effect and could serve as a model for future crises.

The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac says it needs more time to draw a final conclusion on whether to pursue principal reductions.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke went on the defensive this week, rejecting criticisms from Paul Krugman that he had been "assimilated by the Fed Borg" and his views were inconsistent with his previous work as an academic.

Jesse Villarreal Jr., one of the top officials who served at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. during Sheila Bair's term as chairman, has joined Banco Santander as the head of its U.S. government relations team.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has hired Denise Dunckel as a senior associate director for the office of congressional affairs and communications.

Growing up in Anaheim, Calif., Raj Date's early working days were decidedly more glamorous. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's No. 2 revealed last week that he got his first paying job at Disneyland.

Re "Carving Up Big Banks Won't Work, Any Way You Slice It":

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has extended the comment period until June 29 for its public inquiry into overdraft practices.

The FDIC's crisis-era guarantee of unsecured debt had a stabilizing effect, and unlike Treasury's capital infusions in banks the so-called TLGP skirted a lot of the bad publicity associated with the bailout. With its end approaching, some see the debt guarantee as a model for future crises.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated a written agreement with North Valley Bancorp (NOVB) in response to the Redding, Calif., company's improved financial condition.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said Thursday that while the administration still supports the bank tax, it's now talking with members of Congress about other potential ways to pay for the president's broad mortgage refinancing proposal.

When I see my name in print included alongside names like Sheila Bair, Tom Hoenig, Richard Fisher, and Simon Johnson, I take notice.

Sens. Jeff Merkley and Carl Levin on Thursday urged regulators not to delay writing a strong rule that would ban banks from proprietary trading.

A surge in mortgage lending drove strong profits for banks of all sizes in the first quarter, with some banks attributing the improvement to new regulations.

Arnold Schwarzenegger said, when he was first elected as governor of California, that he wanted to "blow up the boxes" of the state bureaucracy.