Law and regulation

Dodd-Frank missed the mark on the two areas most critical to avoiding a future meltdown. The job of identifying systemic risks was left to an unwieldy committee, and financial regulators remain about as balkanized as the intelligence agencies.

Wells Fargo & Co. has been slapped with a cease and desist order and $85 million fine by the Federal Reserve. It is the largest such action ever by the central bank and relates to subprime mortgage lending.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department announced a new round of investments Wednesday as part of a program to encourage community banks to make small business loans.

WASHINGTON — A day after the White House nominated former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Republican senators who hold the key to his confirmation reiterated concerns Tuesday about the bureau's structure.

Regardless of where one comes down on the desirability of any one of the raft of new regulations mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, there is no question that their cumulative impact will be to constrain banking for the next several years.

Elizabeth Warren has spent much of the past year arguing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is not as scary as banks think. But as she steps aside, will that really be the case?

The Treasury Department has ordered board appointments at two banking companies that have missed dividend payments.

Bank of Hawaii in Honolulu has agreed to pay $9 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in which it was accused of improperly charging overdraft fees on debit card transactions.

Richard Cordray, formerly Ohio's attorney general and most recently enforcement chief at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), will be formally named Monday to lead the new regulatory agency.

WASHINGTON — Under a federal rule approved Monday, regulators will use a "two-stage process" to decide whether certain companies that facilitate clearing transactions are systemically important.

With the administration choosing someone to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who may draw more GOP opposition than Elizabeth Warren, some insiders speculated the White House may be open to compromise over the bureau's structure to win confirmation for Richard Cordray.

A trio of Colorado congressmen — Ed Perlmutter, Mike Coffman and Scott Tipton — are sponsoring the Capital Access for Main Street Act.

WASHINGTON — Facing an aggressive implementation schedule for the Dodd-Frank Act, regulators made some progress on key issues, but left some of the biggest ticket items lagging behind.

Prepaid card issuer MetaBank will pay $4.8 million to customers under an order from regulators in the latest fallout from a discontinued high-interest, small-balance loan product.

Prepaid card issuer MetaBank will pay $4.8 million to customers under an order from regulators, in the latest fallout from a discontinued high-interest, small-balance loan product.

The final parameters of an antitrust settlement submitted to a federal court in New York Friday by the Department of Justice promises to give merchants and cardholders more choices when paying for goods and services by preventing Visa and MasterCard from enforcing anti-steering bylaws.

Richard Cordray, the enforcement chief at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will be named to lead the new regulator, the Obama administration said Sunday.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, agree on few things, if any.

To allow members of the House Financial Services Committee to attend hearings, don't be surprised if the panel starts announcing meetings in Iowa and New Hampshire.

There is not an official scorebook to rank the financial regulatory agencies for their progress implementing the Dodd-Frank Act. But they do keep score on the softball field.