Law and regulation

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers filed a complaint against Consumer and Business Debt Counseling Services, an Orlando, Fla. company that the AG's office believes is engaging in unregistered debt management services for Colorado consumers.

Some of the largest mortgage servicers are still fabricating documents that should have been signed years ago and submitting them as evidence to foreclose on homeowners. Several dozen documents reviewed by American Banker show that as recently as August some of the largest U.S. banks, including Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., Ally Financial Inc., and OneWest Financial Inc., were essentially backdating paperwork necessary to support their right to foreclose.

WASHINGTON — Banks are again urging policymakers to reject proposals that would allow credit unions to make more business loans.

Although both bankers and retailers spent thousands on lobbying over the cap on interchange fees for debit cards, campaign contributions cannot explain why 12 key senators switched their votes.

Little has been done to buoy confidence that an economic recovery is at hand. A settlement of the investigations surrounding last year’s robo-signing scandal that, among other things, achieves widespread principal reduction commitments from major servicers, could change that — but only if done carefully.

Fifty community banks across the country received $767 million in the latest round of funding from the Small Business Lending Fund, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.

Stefan Walter, the secretary general of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, defends the new capital rules against criticism they are too much too fast.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac became the latest big names to seek a voice in the massive $8.5 billion settlement reached by Bank of America Corp. with investors in mortgage-backed securities with a court filing Tuesday.

Bank of America's legal woes deepened Tuesday, as U.S. Bank filed suit over soured home-loan bonds and a flurry of investors said they might object to a high-profile mortgage-bond settlement.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has ordered CB Holding Corp. in Aledo, Ill., to serve as a source of strength for its struggling bank unit, Country Bank.

If the U.S. Congress had failed to lift the debt ceiling by its Aug. 2 deadline, senior Fed officials were prepared to take necessary actions to stabilize the market, if warranted.

U.S. Bancorp asked a New York court to force Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide Financial unit to repurchase more than 4,000 loans in a mortgage pool to repair breaches of contract related to improper underwriting.

Spencer Bachus' lead in campaign contributions reverses an advantage held last session by the House Financial Services Committee's top Democrat.

An analysis of campaign-finance data proves that the House Financial Services Committee is an excellent place for vulnerable freshmen to raise money.

The FDIC is objecting to Bank of America's proposed $8.5 billion mortgage-bond settlement with investors, joining investors and states that are challenging the agreement.

Loans or other investments that "revitalize or stabilize federally designated disaster areas" could help boost banks' scores on Community Reinvestment Act exams, the FDIC said in a letter to institutions.

It all seemed so simple. The cause of the financial crisis was that private label securitizers of subprime mortgage loans weren't required to "have enough skin in the game," so Dodd-Frank would require them to retain 5% of the risk.

ICBA says fair-lending actions overstep legal authority by focusing outside a bank's CRA assessment boundaries.

In 2008 the Democratic nominee raised far more money from Wall Street than John McCain. But for 2012, the financial industry is favoring Mitt Romney over the incumbent president.

Community bankers say they'll continue offering free checking for the foreseeable future, even if they're not entirely happy about it. If they followed the big banks by adding fees or changing terms, "we'd lose the accounts," says one local banker.