Law and regulation

The prepaid card company will introduce a bank account with a traditional debit card attached to it sometime this year, chief executive Steve Streit told American Banker.

Citigroup Inc., the third-biggest U.S. lender, will close a proprietary-trading desk that makes bets with the firm's own money and most of the unit's staff will leave before rules banning the practice take effect.

Although the Senate thinks of itself as the more civilized of Congress' two chambers, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray cannot count on a warm welcome from everyone when he visits the Banking Committee next week.

If you wanted an up-close view of just how polarized American politics are in 2012, the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall was the place to be on Tuesday night.

A review of lawsuits filed against collection agencies and creditors in the first two-week reporting period for 2012 shows that Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) lawsuits are down from the same two-week period a year ago.

The FDIC has proposed rules surrounding its stress tests, but with rounds of negotiation with other agencies to come, it's unclear exactly what will govern the companies under its aegis. Deputy Washington Bureau Chief Joe Adler discusses how the agency will reconcile its stress tests with those of other regulators covering banks with $10 billion or more in assets.

Discover Financial Services is anticipating a joint enforcement action from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over the marketing of its credit card payment protection products, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing posted late Thursday afternoon.

AGs and liberal groups that have withheld support for settlement are hailing the new task force announced in the State of the Union.

Tennessee has managed to escape the downturn relatively unscathed, and hasn't had a bank fail since 2002. But a new crop of undercapitalized banks and other strugglers have put 10% of the state's banks at some risk of failure.

The former House Financial Services chairman will tie the knot with his longtime partner at a ceremony in Massachusetts.

One of the biggest changes in modern regulation and supervision has been the stress test and capital conservation standards developed by the Federal Reserve and required in regulation by the Dodd-Frank Act.

A Florida law firm that claimed it would reduce consumers' debts has been banned from doing debt relief work in North Carolina, according to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper's office.

Big-money political contributions from the finance, real estate and insurance sectors have exploded by 700% over the last two decades, a far greater increase than campaign funds from other industries, a study said Thursday.

N.C. Democrat Brad Miller decided not to run after redistricting pitted him against a fellow Democratic incumbent.

A potential default by Greece would not constitute a "disaster" and Europe still is likely to "muddle through" a very complex set of issues to resolve its financial crisis, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said Thursday.

Fed chairman reiterates central bank's concerns about the housing mess, but does not recommend an answer.

Richard Cordray is right to crack down on illegal practices in payday lending. It is essential that his agency also ensure consumers continue to have online access to emergency credit products.

Timothy Geithner on Wednesday said he is confident President Barack Obama, if re-elected, won't ask him to stay on as Treasury secretary for another term, according to an interview shown on Bloomberg Television.

Banks lost billions of dollars in overdraft revenue last year, even as they passed on higher fees to consumers, according to a study by Moebs Services Inc.

CFPB joins forces with others on database of financial companies found to prey on servicemembers.