Law and regulation

Add NorthEast Community Bank in White Plains, N.Y., to the growing list of federally chartered thrifts converting to state charters.

Banks are starting to take a closer look at the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, though its rules do not take effect until 2013.

Banks are starting to take a closer look at the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, though its rules do not take effect until 2013. And even though FATCA is focused on companies based outside the U.S., its effects may gradually influence domestic financial institutions.

With the failure rate expected to decline next year, the FDIC is getting the chance to focus on other priorities, including finishing implementation of Dodd-Frank and ensuring it is ready for the next crisis.

President Obama announced Tuesday that he intends to nominate Jerome H. Powell and Jeremy Stein to the two vacancies on the Federal Reserve Board.

President Barack Obama will announce Tuesday that he plans to nominate a Harvard University finance professor and a former private-equity executive to fill the two vacancies on the seven-member Federal Reserve Board, a White House official said.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago has received the go-ahead from its regulator to begin repurchasing stock from its member banks.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta has ordered First St. Charles Bancshares Inc. in Boutte, La., to use whatever resources necessary to ensure that its bank subsidiary, First National Bank USA, remains well capitalized.

How wide should credit card lenders open the gates to borrowers after slamming them shut during the recession when losses soared? It depends on their analytics.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is seeking comments on whether and how to revise Regulation E, which governs implementation of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.

Former comptroller Eugene Ludwig talks about the competitive threat from unregulated financial firms and why banks should want the new consumer protection bureau to have a permanent director soon.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has closed a loophole that previously allowed individuals to artificially inflate net worth before investing in unregistered securities offerings. Advisors are generally supportive of the change.

Commerce Bancshares Inc.'s banking unit has agreed to pay $18.3 million to settle a class action involving overdraft fees.

The Federal Reserve has fined two banks for violations of the National Flood Insurance Act.

Move now gives public until mid-February to weigh in on Dodd-Frank trading restrictions.

The Housing Policy Council of the Financial Services Roundtable announced last week that it was promoting Paul Leonard, now the council's director of government affairs, to become senior vice president of government affairs.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Wednesday announced the appointment of Michael Sullivan to become deputy comptroller for risk analysis.

The Federal Trade Commission said Dec. 19 that Jessica Rich will take over the financial practices division in the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Today, a highlight of visiting the Treasury Department is seeing the grand Cash Room, a central meeting and function space inside the building that had more direct links with the nation's prosperity in the 1800s, when it operated as sort of a national banker's bank. But these days, money is not the only reason that Treasury is seeing green – or even gold.

Three years after the government put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on life support, a debate is still raging over how much the GSEs can be blamed for the housing crisis.