Law and regulation

Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen testified for the second consecutive year on regulatory issues, touching on the Fed's stress tests, banks' ownership of commodities, the fate of Wells Fargo and whether the central bank acts in a political fashion.

WASHINGTON — Members of the Senate Banking Committee introduced legislation Wednesday that would make municipal debt securities more attractive to banks.

ST. LOUIS – Risk management is critical as small banks aim to make money in a low-rate environment.

The Wells Fargo cross-selling controversy has raised questions about its well-telegraphed succession plan. Tim Sloan, the company's president, has been the heir apparent, but his longtime association with Wells could be a problem if investors or regulators push for an outsider to overhaul the corporate culture.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry provided new details Wednesday about guidance expected soon that will attempt to discourage banks from cutting off relationships with foreign financial institutions in certain parts of the world.

CU Bancorp in Los Angeles has agreed to a consent order to address deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance program.

If stories like the Wells Fargo scandal are repeated at other institutions, U.S. banks could soon experience the same reputational and regulatory fate of their cousins in the United Kingdom.

Wells Fargo's Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf, struggling to quell a scandal and demands for management accountability, plans to offer House lawmakers the same apology he gave senators last week except for a key change, according to a copy of the testimony obtained by Bloomberg News.

Wells Fargo Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf will forfeit $41 million of stock, plus some salary, as the bank's board investigates the company's bogus-account scandal.

Following industry objections to how the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. defines brokered deposits, a House panel heard testimony Tuesday on a series of bills that would amend the definition.

The Federal Housing Administration issued a proposal Tuesday that would make it easier for lenders to secure government guarantees for condominium loans.

Since John Stumpf's appearance before the Senate Banking Committee last week, the situation has become even worse for the Wells Fargo CEO, with new lawsuits filed, the Labor Department opening an investigation and the CFTC fining it for an unrelated action. Here's what to expect when Stumpf appears in the House on Thursday.

IBM is introducing a set of new systems and tools to help banks in the U.S., Europe and Asia adapt to certain global initiatives to modernize financial services, including advancing real-time payments and sharing customer data with third parties through APIs.

WASHINGTON -- The Chamber of Digital Commerce has opened a new outpost in the nation’s capital. But instead of looking for a staid law office, the bitcoin advocacy group formed a partnership with local incubator 1776 to launch the DC Blockchain Center.

The Department of Labor said Tuesday it is launching a probe into whether Wells Fargo violated labor laws by instituting stringent sales quotas — practices that led to a $190 million settlement with federal regulators earlier this month.

WASHINGTON — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a $400,000 settlement with Wells Fargo over violations of agency reporting rules related to the bank’s swaps business — the latest in a string of public relations headaches for the embattled bank.

The parent company of the consumer lender LendUp has been fined more than $6.3 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the California Department of Business Oversight for overcharging borrowers and violating payday and installment lending laws.

The bad-news stories about the largest institutions are worrisome in light of housing finance proposals that could benefit the big banks even more.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump used the first debate late Monday to attack the Federal Reserve Board, reiterating accusations that it has purposely kept interest rates low to help President Obama.

Federal Reserve Gov. Daniel Tarullo laid out a sweeping vision of the future of the central bank's hallmark supervisory stress testing program — a vision that involves major concessions to midsize regionals and puts added pressure of the largest and most systemically risky banks.