Law and regulation

The state Attorneys General need to get a deal done soon, or they — and by extension American homeowners and those who have lost their homes — lose.

A Stanford University professor has filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission urging it to investigate Verizon Wireless’s blocking of Google Wallet on its new smartphone.

Senate GOP leaders moved to block the confirmations of Marty Gruenberg, Tom Hoenig and Thomas Curry because the Obama administration refused to promise it wouldn't use its recess appointment powers for the CFPB and other agencies.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has said the state attorneys general may be ready to announce a deal with the top five mortgage servicers by Christmas. But industry observers, sources and recent news reports suggest the two sides are still ironing out the final details, raising doubts about a deal announcement this week.

The central bank is expected to release a batch of rules implementing Sections 165 and 166 of the Dodd-Frank Act that dictate everything from risk-based capital requirements to how the Fed will supervise systemically important financial firms.

The FDIC's job in this instance is simply to recover as much taxpayer money as possible from a bank failure, not to right the scales of justice, a D&O insurance lawyer says.

The SEC is unlikely to see much financial gain, or praise, from suing former Fannie and Freddie bosses. Instead, its suits' biggest effect might be in rendering the defendants unemployable.

The Bailey Building and Loan Association was one of the worst run banks in America. It would have topped the FDIC's problem bank list, if such a list had existed in 1946. In fact it almost certainly would have failed every financial test of today's regulators. The institution was poorly capitalized, its assets were concentrated in a single asset class, and it was a subprime mortgage lender. Of course, it was also a figment of Frank Capra's imagination.

Credit unions were hit last week with a new group of lawsuits by one consumer claiming they violated the public-disclosure provisions of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act by failing to post nonmember fees being charged at their ATMs as required by the law.

WASHINGTON — Bank regulators announced Monday higher thresholds for reporting requirements under the Community Reinvestment Act, after adjusting for inflation.

In what is probably the last night for bank collapses in 2011, regulators closed banks in Florida and Arizona, bringing the year's failure tally to 92.

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday nominated Richard Berner to become the first director of the Treasury Department's new Office of Financial Research.

Timothy Burniston, the former senior associate director for the Fed's division of consumer and community affairs, has joined Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has named Kristie K. Elmquist its Dallas regional director.

The CFPB's Office of Servicemember Affairs is reaching out to the banking and mortgage industries, as well as to members of the military and their families, to help raise awareness about financial challenges — from foreclosures to payday loans — and products that work for them.

As much as I would like to offer tidings of comfort and joy, I fear that 2012 is shaping up to be the year of extreme risks. These risks may not materialize into live problems, but it is best that bankers be prepared, particularly since at least some of the rotten plums are already baked into the Christmas pudding.

Banks won't be happy that a company not subject to federal supervision is filling a void that they, as regulated institutions, were forced to leave.

Former radio DJ Steve Streit has shepherded prepaid marketer Green Dot from its early days to its hard-won Fed blessing to buy a bank.

The agreement temporarily settles a partisan fight over funding for the two agencies responsible for implementing Dodd-Frank rules on derivatives.

A merchant industry group sings its own praises on debit interchange rules … and threatens new fights.