Law and regulation

The Federal Reserve has given final approval to a rule that will let banks include investment-grade municipal bonds among the assets they use to meet regulatory requirements to ensure they have sufficient liquidity to weather a crisis.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has amassed more than $300 million in so-called "unobligated balances" in its civil penalty fund, driven by a bumper crop of penalties against financial institutions in the past year. Some are questioning why the balances remain so large, year after year.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's proposal to obtain trader source code sets a dangerous precedent of regulators impinging on firms' constitutional protection from search and seizure.

Global regulators are moving toward a new way of calculating leverage ratios that could ease capital requirements for some banks, especially in the U.S.

American Banker readers share their views on the most pressing banking topics of the week. Comments are excerpted from reader response sections of AmericanBanker.com articles and our social media platforms.

An 11-page paper by the agency signaled its intent to take a higher-profile role in ensuring that regulators are not inappropriately hampering banks' adoption of new technologies to reach customers, while also keeping an eye out that institutions are able to handle the risks involved.

BNC Bancorp in High Point, N.C., has delayed the closing of its acquisition of Southcoast Financial in Mount Pleasant, S.C., as the Federal Reserve has not completed its review of the deal.

WASHINGTON – The public advocacy group Better Markets is calling on a federal court to explain why it has decided to seal an opinion, delivered Wednesday, that struck down MetLife’s designation as a systemically risky nonbank.

A white paper released Thursday said the agency might issue new guidance on fintech product development, third-party risk management and new products targeting the underbanked; streamline its licensing procedures; and appoint experts on "responsible innovation." It is still deciding whether to open an office dedicated to monitoring the fintech sector.

To help make instant payments a reality, regulators here and abroad should encourage multiple approaches, thus avoiding the temptation to mandate a single solution.

GE Capital has formally asked the Financial Stability Oversight Council to review and rescind its designation as a systemically important financial institution, setting in motion a highly anticipated process that has not yet been tried by a designated firm.

The payments pioneer is transforming its merchant cash advance into a business loan, a move that has significant legal and regulatory implications.

Scammers pocketed $3.8 million from troubled homeowners nationwide and did nothing to modify their loans, according to the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The DC District Court handed the insurance giant MetLife a big upset win when it struck down the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s decision to apply a systemically risky label to the firm, but with few other firms facing similar designation, the practical impact of the ruling is uncertain.

Former Oklahoma governor and American Bankers Association chief Frank Keating has been named a director of BancFirst in Oklahoma City.

Model legislation in the works would give state legislatures a template for regulating virtual currency businesses. The Treasury is lobbying against clear exemptions for firms that don't control customer funds.

Bankers are fighting back against a plan that would allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to invest in low-income housing tax credits, arguing they are critical for meeting Community Reinvestment Act requirements.

Model legislation in the works would give state legislatures a template for regulating virtual currency businesses. The Treasury is lobbying against clear exemptions for firms that don't control customer funds.

The DC District Court on Wednesday ruled against the Financial Stability Oversight Council's designation of the insurance giant MetLife as a systemically risky nonbank, though the opinion behind the order was sealed and the reasoning behind the decision remains unclear.

MetLife beat back a U.S. attempt to label it too big to fail, which would've put America's biggest life insurer under tougher government scrutiny and forced it to put more money in reserves.