Law and regulation

For the vast majority of Americans, the role of the bank is to be there when the customer wants it to be there. Like the water company. Like the electric company.

The Senate Banking Committee voted 12-10 to send the nomination of Richard Cordray to the full Senate.

Consumer delinquencies continued to climb in the second quarter with nine of 11 loan categories showing increases, according to a study released Wednesday by the American Bankers Association.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday that Wall Street's anger toward President Obama is "inexplicable," though possibly fueled by resentment after the administration engineered a massive bailout of the financial industry.

Downtown Manhattan has been invaded. What does it mean for bankers?

The Senate Banking Committee will vote Thursday morning on the nomination of Richard Corday to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Sen. Richard Durbin, who has loudly criticized banks for raising debit-card fees, accused Bank of America Corp. directly this week of attempting to drive customers toward credit cards.

According to a Sept. 30 internal regulatory memo, regulators plan to broadly define proprietary trading, provide limited exceptions to allow banks to invest in hedge and private-equity funds, and require institutions to install new internal controls.

Data released Wednesday by the U.S. Small Business Administration shows that banks are willing to finance small businesses — as long as the loans are backed by a government guarantee.

A number of struggling homeowners were helped by an Obama administration loan modification program in August, but the program has helped far fewer people than initially forecast.

Raj Date, the de facto head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, weighed in on the ongoing furor over Bank of America's decision to apply a monthly fee for debit card use, saying the focus should be on transparency.

For almost two weeks activists have taken over Zuccotti Park, in the middle of the financial district, in a so-called occupation of Wall Street. Yes, some are angry at bankers. But there is no unifying theme for the protest. Some people are homeless. Some are unemployed. Others are just mad at the general malaise in the economy. There is a message, though, for those in the industry: Many are sensitive to what they perceive as corporate greed.

Tony Blair, who led Great Britain for a decade, used an appearance in North Carolina Tuesday night to assert that current challenges are merely a temporary setback for the West.

The Federal Reserve Board released its final "horizontal review" on incentive compensation practices at the 25 largest, most complex banking institutions.

American Banker editors Rob Blackwell and Maria Aspan discuss one of Dodd-Frank's most controversial components.

The FDIC, one of five agencies implementing the proprietary-trading ban, will meet publicly Tuesday to discuss new regulation.

WASHINGTON–U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C.., is introducing legislation designed to make it easier for customers to switch banks.

When the profits and losses of the debit card unit suffer as regulation clips revenues, the banks increase fees, discouraging debit card usage. Any pretense to customer focus goes out the window.

According to new market share data released by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Tuesday, banks and thrifts with $10 billion or more of assets controlled 72% of the nation's bank deposits at June 30, up from 70% at the same time last year and 68.5% in 2008.

Bank of America Corp.'s plans to charge its customers for using debit cards will help boost the bank's credit card business, according to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.