Law and regulation

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.

Wells Fargo has agreed to pay the state of California $8.5 million to settle a probe into its failure to tell consumers it was recording their calls.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned Wednesday that over using economic sanctions could saturate their potency, driving commerce away from the U.S. and threatening the U.S. dollar's status as the world’s reserve currency.

WASHINGTON — Congress should consider streamlining the financial regulatory structure and give the Financial Stability Oversight Council broader authority to respond to systemic risks, according to a Government Accountability Office report published this week.

A former staff attorney with New York's city government has been named the top lawyer for the New York State Department of Financial Services.

The Coalition for Safe Loan Alternatives intends to become a peer-to-peer forum for best practices among the alternatives to payday loans. The group will not advocate for policy changes. Rather, it aims to offer a platform for local organizations to share information and compare ways to offer low-cost access to credit.

If the general election comes down to Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump, many community bankers are uncertain whom they will back. They fear Clinton will continue the regulatory crackdown against the industry, but are unsure what plans Trump would put in motion.

WASHINGTON — After being forced by a court to withdraw its enforcement action against Tanzanian bank FBME, the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has once again finalized a rule requiring U.S. institutions to cut off ties with the bank.

Those criticizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's governing structure object to the idea of a regulatory agency successfully protecting consumers and the public interest.

The ambiguity over whether regulators favor risk sensitivity or simplicity in setting capital requirements does not help risk management efforts.

As online business lenders grow in number, size and prominence, a new trade group is being launched to represent their interests in Washington.