Law and regulation

Carolina Alliance Bank in Spartanburg, S.C., has exited the Small Business Lending Fund program.

Compliance officers are terrified of a New York State Department of Financial Services proposal that could make them criminally liable for failings in their firm’s anti-money-laundering programs, according to industry representatives.

The top leaders of the National Credit Union Administration said this week that they support an alternative option that would allow credit unions to merge some operations — a prospect that is alarming banking industry representatives.

Payment technology provider Stripe aims to equip global entrepreneurs with the necessary banking and payments relationships to launch an online business in the U.S.

Instead of focusing on the effect of swipe fee rules on banks and credit unions, retailers should ask why the Durbin amendment hasn’t produced the promised cost savings for their consumers.

WASHINGTON — Despite dire predictions by banks and others that new mortgage rules by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would cut off access to credit, the industry is performing well two years after the regulations went into effect, according to the agency's top official.

On the one hand, the FDIC's Quarterly Banking Profile showed how normal banking is again. But there were also worrying signs, including an increase in chargeoffs, higher loan-loss provisions and fears of the impact from the energy sector.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday hit Citibank with $8 million in fines and restitution for allegedly selling credit card debt at inflated rates and failing to send consumer payments to debt buyers. Two debt collection firms also were ordered to pay civil penalties for altering the dates and amounts of debt owned by consumers.

The founder and former chief executive of Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust in Coral Gables, Fla., has sued the bank for fraud and breach of contract after it fired him in 2012.

Western Union is at the center of a preliminary antitrust inquiry as European Union regulators examine allegations of collusion to drive rival money-transfer operators out of the multibillion dollar market.

Meaningful rules encouraging Fannie and Freddie to do more with manufactured housing would allow more lenders into the market and make pricing more competitive.

Western Union Co. is at the center of a preliminary European Union antitrust inquiry into allegations the company colluded with banks to drive rivals out of the multibillion dollar money-transfer market.

Bank earnings rose nearly 12% to $40.8 billion in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, boosted by lower litigation expenses at a few large institutions, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday.

The affordable housing market has dried up in major cities across the country. In response, regulators and lenders are looking into new programs to get people back into single-family homes while also exploring ways to encourage multifamily developments.

The Treasury Department will invest an additional $2 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program into a federal fund that seeks to protect homeowners from foreclosure.

Big-bank representatives agree with the concept behind the Fed's "total loss absorbing capacity" proposal but argue that certain provisions are excessive and onerous.

With the stakes so high for compliance officers, their rights and responsibilities should be clearly defined, including a safe harbor for those who play by the rules.

Online gambling is like gun shows and weed—legal and very lucrative, though with enough regulatory baggage that most service providers are reluctant to go near them.

The government-sponsored enterprise was enthusiastic about launching the 97% loan-to-value product when it announced it in December 2014. But it has yet to become a sizable part of Fannie's business.

With the Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. poised to announce the results, it's not clear who should be the most nervous: banks, regulators or the American people.