Law and regulation

Gov. Pat McCrory on Wednesday signed the North Carolina Money Transmitters Act, as requested by the state banking commissioner's office.

Freddie Mac is on track to issue mortgage-backed securities via a common securities platform by the end of this year, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a member of the Banking Committee, has reportedly withdrawn as a potential running mate for GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The number of customers who obtained 10 payday loans in 2015 outnumbered those who obtained just one, the California Department of Business Oversight said in a report Wednesday.

Republican lawmakers have asked the Treasury Department's inspector general to investigate whether the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's policies are encouraging banks to cut ties with entire lines of business or banks in other countries.

Installment lenders are concerned that efforts by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to curb the most abusive and predatory practices associated with payday loans will wreak havoc on their business.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Daniel Tarullo acknowledged that capital requirements for smaller banks are too complicated, suggesting they could be retooled to be like earlier Basel Committee standards.

Under Rep. Jeb Hensarling’s proposed legislation, some banks might raise capital levels to get regulatory relief. Others might choose to grin and bear the current level of micromanagement. The result would be a more diverse banking sector.

Wells Fargo got less than it wanted in a federal tax-refund lawsuit, yet the bank's partial victory may spur billions of dollars in similar refund claims from companies that have done repeated mergers and acquisitions, tax lawyers say.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has opened the door to experimenting with front-end credit risk transfer transactions, but it is not wide enough for some market players.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is keeping lenders in the dark about how it will ensure borrower data is secure and private under the expanded Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting requirements.

While fintech companies are urging federal regulators to create a federal charter that would allow them to follow a single national standard instead of a myriad of state rules, such a benefit will almost certainly come with strings attached, including possible compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney pledged to shore up financial stability as he warned that the risks from Britain's decision to leave the European Union have started to crystallize.

Fannie and Freddie regulator's first report on NPL sales shows more borrowers avoid foreclosures when their loans are sold to investors.

Some critics of the bureau think there is a renewed chance to change the bureau's structure. They point to the presidential election and recent setbacks to CFPB Director Richard Cordray, including a watchdog's report on employee discrimination and a pending legal challenge to its constitutionality, as laying the groundwork for a change.

U.S banks have come a long way from the early days of the stress tests, when it was unclear if any would pass. The majority of banks easily cleared the 5% minimum level for capital under the severely adverse scenario as well as the vaguer qualitative test the Federal Reserve Board imposes, suggesting institutions have finally gotten a handle on the process. Still, it's useful to see which banks improved from last year, as well as the few which fell toward the back of the back.

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday that it paid $24.5 million in restitution to consumers after uncovering illegal activities in auto finance and payment firms in the first four months of this year.

NPL investors will have to consider principal reductions and offer more sustainable loan modifications.

Heather Cox says Citi cherry-picks the best of fintech apps for its own services; FemTech leaders ponder what Brexit means for fintech; and SEC chair Mary Jo White takes on board diversity. Plus, Synovus' Liz Dukes Wolverton and Synchrony's Carol Juel.