Law and regulation

After more than a year of negotiations, Visa Inc. has begun to create a debit business in Canada, as the country’s regulatory environment for payments appears to have settled.

The Federal Reserve Board on Oct. 19 announced a proposed rule to clarify certain aspects of Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act that went into effect earlier this year.

A shakeout among debt-relief firms is likely as such companies restructure their operations to conform with new Federal Trade Commission rules that take effect this month, experts say.

Competing prepaid card issuers may find an opportunity in the restrictions placed on Meta Financial Group Inc. by its regulator, observers say.

Credit unions on Tuesday were exploring whether to sign on to a suit filed by Twin Cities bank TCF Financial challenging the constitutionality of the new interchange amendment that may cap fees on debit card transactions.

Other debit card issuers are likely to pledge support for TCF Financial Corp.’s Oct. 12 lawsuit filed against the Federal Reserve Board that challenges the constitutionality of the provision within the Dodd-Frank Act requiring the Fed to set debit interchange rates, analysts say.

TCF Financial Corp.’s lawsuit seeking to block the Federal Reserve Board from capping debit card interchange rates is about more than preserving revenue; even more harmful restrictions could be imposed on banks if the industry stands idle, according to William Cooper, TCF chairman and chief executive.

New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo wants information from four large mortgage servicers - Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and GMAC Mortgage/Ally - concerning the filing of affidavits that falsely attest the signer has personal knowledge of the facts presented in home foreclosure proceedings, a practice known as “robo-signing.”

Wayzata, Minn.-based TCF National Bank announced Tuesday it is suing the U.S. Federal Reserve to block new limits on debit-card transaction fees, one of the first lawsuits against a major provision of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, reports Dow Jones.

Consumers in the United States generally believe their credit card companies treat them fairly but anticipate some changes under the Credit CARD Act affecting their overall card usage, new research from New York-based management-consulting firm Auriemma Consulting Group suggests. Auriemma conducted the research through an online survey in August.

WASHINGTON — When Elizabeth Warren, the top administration official in charge of creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, called last week for simplified, comprehensible credit card disclosures, the industry applauded the goal.

More than 550 people gathered at The Pierre to honor 2010's Most Powerful Women in Banking and Finance.

While the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against three major card networks appeared to bolster merchants' case for regulating interchange fees, it may also have undercut a push for legislation targeting the issue.

In theory, retailers just gained significant ground in their fight against payment card fees.

A settlement involving the top two payments networks over their merchant acceptance policies gives retailers more clout to promote the use of cheaper cards, but an analyst doubts many businesses will change their practices.

MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. announced Oct. 4 that they have settled an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice against both companies regarding payment network rules that prohibit so-called merchant steering, in which merchants steer consumers towards using less-expensive card products for payment.

Point-of-sale transactions will likely become less costly, faster and more secure as result of pending debit interchange rate regulation, and future credit card interchange regulation is almost a certainty, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s vice president of finance told attendees today at SourceMedia’s ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum.

Friedman & Wexler, a collection law firm in Chicago that ceased doing business in July, has been ordered by a Cook County (Ill.) judge to pay a $23.7 million judgment to the state of Illinois.