Law and regulation

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown on Monday became the first Senate Republican to endorse the nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The outcome of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's 'Larger Participant' rule has the potential to level the playing field between the banking industry and an old rival: Wal-Mart.

The Justice Department began sending letters Monday to servicemembers who are entitled to $20 million in damages from Bank of America Corp. for alleged violations of the Servicemember Civil Relief Act.

More banks have sold problem assets to private-equity groups this year, while others unloaded their banks in hopes of unlocking the value in nonperforming assets. Some believe selling bad loans to nonbanks could shore up valuations by removing the challenges of regulatory oversight.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., an aggressive prosecutor of money laundering cases, made a strong appeal Monday for information-sharing between banks and law enforcement.

Judge Jonathan Lippman, regulator Benjamin Lawsky and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman are standing up to an industry intent on forgetting that the foreclosure crisis affects real people, real lives and real families.

The Federal Trade Commission won a $29.8 million judgment against defendants behind a deceptive marketing operation known as Grant Connect.

Some of the biggest champions of the Volcker Rule have complained that the 300-page proposal implementing it is simply too long and complicated. That includes former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker himself, who first suggested the idea of a ban on banks' proprietary trading.

Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Janet Yellen said the central bank expects to release a package of rules, which had been expected in September, soon.

In a capitalist economy there is one market which is more important than any other — the market for capital. What can be more vital than the efficiency of the process by which the price of capital in all its various financial forms is determined — whether long or medium-term fixed-rate loans or equity?

Depending on how it rules, the high court's decision to hear a fair lending case could benefit banks facing stepped-up scrutiny from the Justice Department.

If you’re looking for lessons on risky business and recidivism, MF Global has them in spades.

We assumed the story on the front of Section C of the Journal was more important than the one inside. Dead wrong.

A report by the Government Accountability Office finds that financial regulators are coordinating only in an informal, ad hoc way.

The $593 million shortfall in client money at MF Global Holdings Ltd., the broker that filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31, appears to result from a "massive hide-and-seek ploy," Bart Chilton, a commissioner at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said today.

State regulators closed the $62.4 million-asset Community Bank of Rockmart in Georgia on Thursday, the 88th failure this year.

Through fever waves of populist anger including the Occupy Wall Street protests, there has been no sign that disgusted customers are draining the giant banks of their deposits.

Two former executives of Orion Bank, Angel Guerzon and Thomas Hebble, were banned from banking by the Federal Reserve Board due to their participation in "unsafe and unsound practices, breaches of fiduciary duty, and violations of law and regulation," the agency said in a press release.

In the wake of the financial meltdown of 2008, an increasingly persistent attack on money market mutual funds is underway. Present and former high government officials, academics, and some editorial writers have joined the fray, each offering their own approach for reengineering the money fund industry.

Trade group for retail banking adds six new members to its staff.