Law and regulation

From the perspective of New York City's community bankers, 9/11 bred a new era of caution and governmental oversight that will not go away anytime soon.

First Merchants Corp. in Muncie, Ind., announced Friday that is planning to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program using a combination of proceeds from a recent stock offering and a low-interest loan from the Treasury Department's Small Business Lending Fund.

The president told Congress that he would act on his own to allow more Americans to refinance their mortgages. His jobs legislation will also include an infrastructure bank, an idea that has failed to gain enough support in the past.

The FHFA's suits against 17 large financial institutions are the latest example of a deep-seated conflict within the government over how to address the hangover from the housing bubble.

Chicago's City Council published an ordinance Thursday that would require banks, mortgage servicers and institutional investors to provide maintenance and upkeep of vacant properties before the homes have gone through foreclosure.

WASHINGTON — Elizabeth Warren has headed back to Massachusetts, but she remains engaged in the partisan fight in Washington over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee voted to advance the nominations for three key financial services positions on Thursday.

Regional-sized bank holding companies, which must submit resolution plans, say their rules should not mirror those of the biggest firms.

Government-sponsored enterprise Freddie Mac told investors this month that it is not considering "significant discount pricing" when selling its backlog of foreclosed homes, according to a letter obtained by American Banker. A spokesman said the agency doesn't want to "tank" the housing market.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced a written agreement with Stonebridge Financial Corp. in West Chester, Pa.

American banks aren't the only ones protesting a capital surcharge on systemically important institutions.

Maryland's Court of Appeals on Wednesday approved changes to the state's Rules of Procedure that will force companies that buy past-due consumer debts - and try to collect by suing - to present sufficient evidence to support their claims, according to Jonathan F. Harris, an attorney with the Public Justice Center, a Baltimore-based legal advocacy group.

Foreclosures continue to decimate communities around the nation, with black neighborhoods being the hardest hit. Some pundits and politicians point to federal policies that encouraged homeownership in low- and moderate-income communities, coupled with reckless behavior on the part of greedy homeowners, as the crux of the problem. One example is the statement by Fox News reporter Neil Cavuto that "loaning to minorities and risky borrowers is a disaster." To the contrary, our recent research demonstrates that it is outside investors living in other, predominantly white neighborhoods, not local homeowners, who account for the adverse impact on our nation's black communities.

Capitol Federal Financial Inc. in Topeka, Kan., has decided to wait until its one-year anniversary as a 100% stock-owned company before before pursuing a stock buyback program.

Bank of America Corp.'s dismissal Tuesday night of top wealth management executive Sallie Krawcheck may point to a deeper commitment to the Merrill Lynch business.

The Treasury Department said this week it will distribute $4.3 billion from the Small Business Lending Fund, about a third of the funds that banks were seeking from the program and only 14% of the total available.

WASHINGTON — Loan quality improved slightly over the past six weeks while demand was stable to weak, according to a report issued Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Board.

In his new economic plan, the Republican presidential candidate offers his most detailed comments to date on last year's financial reform law. He also says that he'd amend the Sarbanes-Oxley in an effort to help mid-sized businesses.

President Obama should acknowledge that something is seriously wrong with the government's response to the financial crisis of 2008 and chart a new course. The wisdom in comic strip legend Pogo's famous remark comes to mind, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday it is seeking public input on products and services aimed at members of the military and their families.