Law and regulation

Dorsey Thornton & Associates LLC, a Georgia-based collection company, entered into a $15.5 million settlement agreement with the state's Governor's Office of Consumer Protection to resolve allegations that the agency harassed and deceived thousands of consumers.

One has to admire the tenacity of the credit union lobby. Once again, a handful of very large credit unions are putting pressure on Congressional officials to pass legislation that will increase credit unions' business lending authority from 12.5 percent of their total assets to 27.5 percent. The commercial banking industry has fought off similar attempts for such expansion in previous Congressional sessions and we are working hard to do so once again.

A decision by a Georgia judge this week raised new obstacles in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s claims against former managers of the failed Integrity Bank.

Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. in Flint. Mich., would need to increase its size by roughly 25% to offset any costs associated with crossing the $10 billion-asset threshold, according to Chief Executive Cathleen Nash.

Sen. Richard Durbin on Thursday blasted Bank of America following a report that the firm is weighing new fees for certain checking account holders.

Community banks are warning Congress that allowing interest to be paid on such accounts will help large banks and hurt local communities, but they appear to be gaining little traction.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said new deposit fee restrictions have compelled the New York company to shy away from building new branches in lower-income areas.

In his second day of testimony, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke provided some relief to foreign governments who have objected to the proposed 'Volcker Rule' by saying U.S. regulators were seriously considering complaints logged against the regulation.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is embarking on an ambitious study to better understand community banks. It doing so, it's looking beyond the traditional measure — size.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Fueled by higher bank fees and the Bank Transfer Day movement, credit unions scored some of their biggest membership gains ever in the second half of 2011, NCUA reported this morning.

WASHINGTON — Customers will now be able to file complaints about their checking and savings accounts with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Heritage Commerce Bancorp Inc. in San Jose has received approval from its regulators and the Treasury Department to repay the $40 million it received from the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Truth-in-Lending Act lawsuits filed against collection agencies and creditors slowed in the first half of February after an active second half of January, according to WebRecon LLC, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based firm that tracks the data from U.S. District Courts.

Commodities Futures Trading Commission commissioner Scott O' Malia says the CFTC has spent far too much of its time and resources on swaps rulemaking while "averting its gaze from the futures markets and their developments."

To the surprise of no one closely watching a new bill seeking to give banks some cover from examiners, federal regulators confirmed that no, they would not be OK with Congress creating an alternative appeals route for banks that want to dispute their exam ratings.

The current regulatory approach to compliance has led bankers to stop offering certain consumer loan products or to increase what they charge. We all lose if the cost of compliance forces regulated lenders to send customers to the back-alley loan shark.

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act is set to expire at the end of the year. While extending relief to stressed homeowners seems a no-brainer with millions of mortgages still underwater, some worry the measure could be allowed to die.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Thursday will announce the claims process for thrift shareholders who last year won a breach-of-contract case stemming from the savings-and-loan crisis.

When the 14 biggest mortgage servicers signed consent orders last April over foreclosure misdeeds, they hoped the deal would indemnify them against further claims. Regulators now appear unlikely to grant them blanket immunity.

Regulators say risk-based capital is the ratio they most want to see strengthened, community bankers say. That's a problem because minimum requirements could rise and examiners are said to exercise broad discretion in enforcement.