Law and regulation

Will the acrimony over swipe fees keep banks and retailers from working together on mobile payments?

Regulators closed Fidelity Bank in Dearborn, Mich., at a cost of about $93 million to the Deposit Insurance Fund.

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Why did the Senate confirm Martin Gruenberg as a board member of the FDIC but not the agency's chairman? We seek to answer this and other questions, including how it will impact banks and the agency itself.

To borrow from Mr. Becker's disingenuous BankThink piece ("More Credit Union Business Lending Would Boost Economy"), it's time for our nation's leaders to get serious about credit unions.

Participants in a recent American Banker roundtable debate to what extent tougher supervision for banks above $50 billion of assets will deter deals among banks below the threshold.

Legislators are considering a proposed tax overhaul that would move $30 million of taxes from community banks to larger banks. With smaller bills, community banks say they can lend more.

Industry lawyer and former Comptroller of the Currency Jerry Hawke makes the case against further regulation of money market funds.

Does the Fed print money? Are its asset purchases increasing the deficit? Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke sought to put commonly-held beliefs to rest in a lecture to students.

U.S. Bancorp is pulling out of the private student loans market, as banking regulators step up their scrutiny of the products. JPMorgan Chase is also cutting back on student lending.

BancTrust Financial Group (BTFG), a troubled Mobile, Ala., company that is looking for a buyer, has bought itself time to find one after reaching a deal to delay interest payments on a $20 million loan outstanding to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The banking industry, its management teams and boards of directors have been served notice that much more will be required of them.

The Justice Department's latest fair lending report shows the agency has no signs of slowing its enforcement activity, which peaked in 2011 with the help of banking regulators.

A lack of jail sentences for financial executives doesn't have to mean justice wasn't done.

A federal judge rejected an attempt by the Securities and Exchange Commission to compel Wells Fargo to comply with an administrative subpoena, ordering the agency and the bank to meet to resolve their dispute over documents related to an MBS probe.

The Treasury Department is looking to fully vacate its role as a common shareholder of Central Pacific Financial in Honolulu.

WASHINGTON–The nation's capital is starting to pay attention to mobile payments. Whether that sharpening focus will help or hurt the industry's growth, however, remains an open question.

Lawsuits filed against debt collectors and creditors rose in the first half of March compared to a slower February and the year-ago period, with increases reported in every category, according to WebRecon LLC, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based research firm that compiled the data from U.S. District Courts.

The Senate finally confirmed Martin Gruenberg and three others to serve on the FDIC board, but — in an rare omission — did not confirm Gruenberg to serve as chairman of the agency. Thomas Curry, however, was confirmed as Comptroller of the Currency.

Wilshire Bancorp in Los Angeles has exited the Troubled Asset Relief Program by repurchasing the bulk of its shares it issued to the Treasury Department at a slight discount.