Law and regulation

Capitalizing on consumer outrage over a $5 monthly debit card fee Bank of America Corp. plans to impose, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is urging smaller banks to seize the “competitive opportunity” and go after unhappy BofA customers while suggesting the issuer would prefer its customers use credit cards instead.

Many bankers believe issues with classified loans are limiting them from making loans or pursuing acquisitions.

Federal Reserve governor Sarah Bloom Raskin on Tuesday pressed for changes in mortgage servicing agreements to encourage more workouts of troubled loans.

American Banker's Rob Blackwell explains why lenders may learn to love the agency's forthcoming mortgage disclosure rules.

The California AG's decision to withdraw from mortgage settlement talks has effectively killed a multi-state deal with the top five mortgage servicers over claims of robo-signing and other foreclosure issues.

An investigation by the Office of Inspector for the Federal Housing Finance Agency says the agency had information as early as 2009 about potentially abusive foreclosure practices, but did nothing to investigate them.

President Obama on Monday pointed to Bank of America Corp.'s decision to charge some of its customers a $5 monthly fee for debit-card purchases as an example of why the U.S. needs a strong consumer watchdog.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York may ask foreign lenders for more detailed daily reports on liquidity as the U.S. steps up monitoring of risks from Europe's sovereign debt crisis, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

While the effective demise of settlement talks between the state attorneys general and the top mortgage services has its downsides, it may ultimately turn out to be a good thing for banks.

The senator who authored new interchange rules says that by imposing a $5 monthly fee on debit-card customers, Bank of America will be overcharging its customers.

The Department of Financial Services officially launched Monday and will focus on modernizing regulations and consumer protections.

There are 7, 500 banks in this country. Of those, 6,800 have asset sizes of a billion dollars or less. This diversity enables our banking system to support the world's largest and most dynamic economy, and it is what sets us apart from other countries whose banking industries are highly concentrated. Prosperous, American-based global enterprises — which do business with America's largest banks — beget mid-size suppliers that are served by regional banks. Small businesses in this supply chain are in turn nurtured by community banks, which work to make Main Streets across America vibrant.

Europe’s lingering debt crisis likely will cause some European banks to be wary of adhering to a pending deadline to accept euros as a common currency for electronic cross-border payments as part of the Single Euro Payments Area for eurozone countries, new research indicates.

State Bank Financial has bought 10 failed banks since 2009, and CEO Joe Evans discusses his outlook for more deals. He also discusses challenges with loan demand, and the long-term outlook for his bank in its core markets of Atlanta and Macon, Ga.

The Financial Stability Board proposed several policies Monday for lowering the risk giant firms pose to the system, including principles for resolution regimes, ahead of next month's Group of 20 summit in France.

The Treasury secretary and the Fed chair figure are likely to face tough questioning from lawmakers, among several other events in D.C.

Hong Kong's securities regulator Monday criticized and fined a Citigroup Inc. unit HK$6 million (US$770,394) for missing a "Ponzi scheme operating under its nose," and then later failing to report it to the Securities and Futures Commission in a timely fashion.

Citigroup, which last week touted its promise not to charge customers for using their debit cards, is telling some checking customers that it will start charging them $15 per month unless they maintain a balance of at least $6,000.

A U.S. district court has halted an operation that allegedly subjected consumers to abusive collection practices and deceived the small-business clients for whom it collects.

Kevin MacMillan has moved from the government-relations shop at Bank of America Corp. to that of U.S. Bancorp.