Law and regulation

A compilation of our favorite stories of 2015, as selected by the people who assigned and edited them.

The financial industry is fractured over a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plan to require big banks to temporarily pay more in deposit insurance premiums, with small banks lobbying to force bigger payments over a shorter time frame and many large ones wanting to stretch it out.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is giving a handful of community banks a chance to explain why a plan to change the accounting for loan losses will result in major hardship. The proposal would force banks to record a loan-loss provision once a loan is originated, rather than when a loss becomes probable.

But the strong demand for tax credits from those projects is also whittling down the investment returns as their riskiness declines, according to a new report by the New York-based accounting firm CohnReznick.

A concept that predated bitcoin itself is becoming more than a thought exercise as blockchains explore ways to harness smart contracts for greater uses.

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.

Some lenders have asked whether the bureau would adjust its so-called resubmission guidelines — which determine whether lenders have to refile data based on errors found in samples — and it has responded with a request for further industry input.

U.S regulators' knack for going beyond international standards is prompting industry worries over the cumulative effect of different jurisdictions' capital regimes.

While it searches for a permanent deputy director, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has named David Silberman to serve as its acting No. 2 starting next week.

In theory, Sen. Bernie Sanders' plan to use Section 121 of the Dodd-Frank Act to break up the big banks sounds plausible. In practice, it won't ever happen. Here's why.

After several years of tussling with mortgage rules and their implementation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is focusing on several areas that will primarily affect the nonbank market, including debt collection, payday-type loans and prepaid cards.

Fourth Corner Credit Union has lost its court battle to offer banking services to the marijuana industry, but its organizers are not throwing in the towel.

Sen. Richard Shelby's bill changing how regulators gauge if a bank is "systemic" would refocus post-crisis policy on institutions that pose the greatest threat.

A Colorado credit union's failed court battle against the Fed has led to renewed calls for U.S. lawmakers to offer stronger protections to financial institutions that provide banking services to legal pot growers and distributors.

After several years of tussling with mortgage rules and their implementation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is focusing on several areas that will primarily affect the nonbank market, including debt collection, payday-type loans and prepaid cards.

JPMorgan Chase will pay $4 million to settle a U.S. regulator's claims that the company misled private-bank customers about how its brokers were paid.

After enduring a slew of post-crisis scandals, bankers are beginning to see the light on becoming stewards of their organizations.

A federal judge has rebuffed a legal challenge by a credit union in Colorado that was set up to serve the marijuana industry but then denied access to the U.S. payment system.

BancorpSouth in Tupelo, Miss., has agreed to settle a lawsuit tied to how it determines overdraft fees on debit card and ATM transactions.

Banking industry officials hailed changes Tuesday to a Financial Accounting Standards Board rule that they have long complained unfairly distorts banks' quarterly earnings.