Law and regulation

While little is known about what regulators are weighing as they grade the 12 biggest firms' resolution plans, experts deeply familiar with the process are speculating that liquidity could be a determining factor in whether the plans are deemed credible or sent back to the drawing board.

Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., has been restricted from acquiring other banks or opening new branches after it received a Community Reinvestment Act downgrade.

Compared to other countries with fewer banks, the faster payments initiative in the U.S. will require a far greater level of collaboration and participation.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice on Tuesday released guidelines for the implementation of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, prompting some industry skepticism as well as renewed privacy concerns.

The burgeoning industry has been hoping the Supreme Court would overturn a problematic lower-court ruling, but the unexpected passing of a conservative stalwart makes that outcome less likely.

Lawmakers' move to cap the Federal Reserve's capital surplus to help pay for highway improvements made the central bank one of the least capitalized financial institutions in the country.

In what could be seen as a Nixon-to-China moment, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, a former Goldman Sachs executive and one of the architects of Treasury's bailout of the largest banks, said that breaking up the big banks and turning them into public utilities may be the only way to solve "too big to fail."

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said Congress hasn't gone far enough to protect the U.S. economy from potential crises and unveiled plans to study options for regulators that include breaking up the nation's largest financial institutions.

Lawmakers opted for broadening the focus and makeup of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, but a more focused systemic risk regulator would have had a better chance of success.

The Chicago, Des Moines and Cincinnati FHLBs have grown their life insurance company membership the most in recent years.

While the energy sector and regions that rely heavily on oil and gas production have been hit hard by the glut in the global oil supply and the closure of drilling rigs across the country, the probability of widespread bank failures as a result appears to be remote.

Large banks are not buying preferential treatment by contributing to her campaign, Hillary Clinton insisted again on Thursday, attempting to rebut charges leveled at her by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

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State regulators and House lawmakers warned the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau not to preempt state laws when the agency issues its proposal to regulate payday-type loans.

The Federal Housing Administration will continue to charge borrowers an annual premium over the entire life of the loan, rejecting calls from some housing advocates to change how it’s calculated.

Senate Banking Committee members pushed Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen Thursday for some indication of whether the central bank would approve banks' so-called "living wills" or instead will force asset sales and other steps to simplify their structures.

In an interview, Comptroller Thomas Curry expressed concern about eroding loan standards and the potential for crippling cyberattacks. But he also argued that the industry is much stronger than it was a decade ago.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's decision to exclude captive insurance companies from Federal Home Loan Bank membership makes the FHLB system like a private country club.

Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $3.2 billion to end a joint federal-state investigation into its handling of mortgage-backed securities, the fourth deal to be struck in a probe of the big U.S. banks' role in the subprime mortgage meltdown and the financial crisis it spawned.

Other countries have already lowered interest rates below zero, and the financial stability concerns of such a policy taking shape in the U.S. should not be dismissed.