Law and regulation

Park National (PRK) in Newark, Ohio, announced Friday that it will repay the $100 million it received from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program by issuing new debt and reducing its short-term investments.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve Board announced Friday that it is forming an outside council of academics to provide advice on its process of stress testing bank balance sheets.

The Colorado Supreme Court this week ruled that the defunct Norlarco Credit Union could not sue to recover the balance on a defaulted auto loan.

Two years after regulators gave Americans more power to manage overdrafts of their checking accounts, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is reviewing bank practices to determine if the crackdown went far enough.

I was reminded recently that the origin of the term vigilante stemmed from the vigilance committees formed in our nation's early days on the frontier where official law enforcement was either weak or nonexistent. They were established for the purpose of providing an environment where law abiding folks could be protected from the law breakers. Vigilance committees were noble and well-intentioned, but often quickly deteriorated into mobs and were characterized by outbreaks of mob rule.

The acting head of the FHFA said Thursday he is “deeply concerned” about underwater borrowers, but that forbearance plans and short sales already serve as forms of principal reduction.

First the Republicans pass a bill they must know had zero chance of enactment, misleadingly claiming it will cut the deficit. Even more absurdly, they then compare the Office of Financial Research to Big Brother.

Supporters of allowing more business lending by credit unions get nods from a consumer group and a group of conservatives and free-market organizations. Meanwhile, a Michigan credit union joins banks in opposing the measure.

To the extent the public is aware of the low-profile Office of Financial Research, House Republicans are working to make sure that those perceptions are negative.

Although the Government Accountability Office gave the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. its stamp of approval for 2010 and 2011 financial statements, the watchdog yet again said that the FDIC had overestimated the cost of certain of loss-sharing deals.

Patrice Ficklin, the CFPB's assistant director for fair lending, provided a glimpse into the bureau's fair lending work at a housing conference in Washington Wednesday.

Nearly a year after it returned to profitability, Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. (CRBC) of Flint, Mich., has been released from its enforcement action with the Federal Reserve.

Particularly vexing is one bank’s requirement that cardholders sign up for a payment protection service before receiving materials describing it. Hawaii deserves praise for protecting residents from these questionable practices.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry on Thursday urged eligible borrowers to sign up for the OCC's foreclosure-review process, and suggested that homeowners who didn't like the results would still be able to sue their mortgage servicers later.

Regulators on Thursday heeded complaints by financial institutions to provide precise guidance on when they would have to comply with the so-called "Volcker Rule," saying full compliance was not expected before July 21, 2014.

A Federal Reserve rule has sown confusion about the way lenders pay housing appraisers, creating new turmoil in an industry already burdened by expensive middlemen, falling home prices and diminished ranks.

Small-business lending may be heating up for the most creditworthy borrowers, but gaps in that market remain, according to Small Business Administration head Karen Mills.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's office is suing Christopher Rojas of Irvine, Calif., for running a foreclosure rescue operation that used multiple business names and failed to deliver on promises to lower consumers' mortgage payments. The lawsuit charges Rojas with multiple violations of Ohio's consumer laws.

In October of last year the acting chairman of the FDIC said at the annual ABA meeting, "the FDIC is going to undertake a number in initiatives to further our understanding of the challenges and opportunities for community banks."

Larry Hattix believes that adding outside bureaucracy "will significantly delay exam processing and corrective actions," while making it more difficult for regulators to intervene when problems arise at banks and thrifts.