Law and regulation

Developing banking solutions for lower-income consumers means getting to the heart of the financial volatility they face trying to make ends meet.

Fearless forecasts from BankThink's stable of industry veterans, experts and critics.

The agency released a plan Tuesday that would provide incentives for owners of manufactured housing communities to reform their practices if they want to tap financing by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's unexpected move to require the largest banks to develop a "recovery plan" has raised questions about why the agency is moving now and how its mandate differs from regulatory requirements for institutions to develop "living wills."

A decline in bank failures and improving stability across the financial industry helped persuade the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to approve a 4.7% reduction in its 2016 operating budget on Tuesday.

The report said that so far the threats remain contained and do not pose a clear and present danger to the economy. But that could change quickly.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency unveiled a new proposal Tuesday that would detail how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should serve three underserved markets: manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation and rural markets.

The recent ineffectiveness of Federal Reserve monetary policy and macroprudential rules begs the question whether the Fed needs to revise recent bank regulations, its own mission or both.

After Wall Street has spent years trying to convincing regulators how they could collapse without disrupting the financial system, the largest U.S. banks will soon have to take the additional step of showing how they can keep from failing in the first place.

The agency has struggled with how to regulate small-dollar and payday loans in recent years, pushing back its own deadline several times for completing a proposed rulemaking. That could be because the plan is so sweeping, some said.

Over the past three decades William Cooper has led TCF Financial through two crises and reinvented the bank to keep it profitable. He also sued the Federal Reserve in the aftermath of the financial crisis, for imposing a cap on debit card fees. For his strong leadership in the industry — as well as his candid, off-the-cuff style — American Banker has named him its lifetime achievement honoree.

The agency made good on a vow to make 2015 the "year of regulatory relief," causing headaches for the banking industry in areas such as field of membership and member business lending.

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The first state inquiry into marketplace lending is seeking information from a broad mix of companies, including consumer lenders, small-business lenders, and firms that are not primarily in the lending business.

WASHINGTON — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be able to evaluate and use new credit scoring models under a bill introduced in the House that seeks to create more competition in the credit scoring industry.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., reintroduced legislation Friday to strengthen the government’s ability to prosecute individuals who break anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules.

News that two suspected terrorists took out a loan with a prominent marketplace lender has fueled fears online lending is more susceptible to terrorist financing. Yet experts said that the criticism directed at the industry appears unfounded. Here's why.

The Treasury Annex building in Washington is slated to be renamed in honor of a bank that served emancipated slaves after the end of the Civil War.

The regulatory red lines of $10 billion and $50 billion affect banks well before they pass them, and add to the pressure to buy or sell, says FIG Partners analyst Chris Marinac.

California officials have opened a broad inquiry into the marketplace lending business, seeking data from industry participants that will be used to assess the effectiveness of the state's current regulatory regime.