Law and regulation

WASHINGTON — The House Financial Services Committee approved a series of bills Wednesday morning that would remove a key Dodd-Frank provision and amend the structure of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

A lack of access to financial services, particularly the inability to transfer funds overseas, can prevent lifesaving work from being carried out and has touched the refugee crisis in Europe, where many aid groups are delivering assistance.

The number of startup companies opting out of the State of New York — more than a dozen — since the financial services department's BitLicense regulation was finalized is troublesome.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Tuesday that it had revised the process by which companies can appeal a supervisory action.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council issued a joint statement Tuesday advising financial institutions to take steps to defend against cyber-ransom attacks.

Banking regulators have been coy about whether they approve serving marijuana businesses, but lately one regional Fed bank has taken a strong position against the practice. But there are nearly three dozen Fed-supervised banks serving pot companies — one of many seeming inconsistencies in an opaque and confusing regulatory policy.

WASHINGTON — The House Financial Services Committee debated a bill Tuesday to remove a key Dodd-Frank Act size test that subjects any bank with over $50 billion in assets to heightened rules.

Fees charged to military banks under Department of Defense agreements are forcing branches to close, removing a key resource for troops and families.

First Horizon National in Memphis, Tenn., will record an $11.6 million expense in the third quarter, after an arbitration panel officially ruled against it in a securities-related dispute with First United Corp. in Oakland, Md.

Google, Amazon, Apple, PayPal and Intuit have joined forces to promote policies they say will foster greater innovation in financial services.

Loan demand and conditions remained largely unchanged in the third quarter, with some easing of credit standards for consumer and auto loans, according to a survey of senior loan officers conducted by the Federal Reserve.

Though the deadline for compliance is more than two years away, lenders are already warning that they do not have enough time to comply with a new rule that requires institutions to report additional data to regulators on home loans.

JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay California $50 million to resolve claims the bank cheated tens of thousands of credit-card customers while collecting debts from them, California Attorney General Kamala Harris said.

Eagle Bancorp in Bethesda, Md., has redeemed all the shares it accumulated through the Small Business Lending Fund program.

Bank of America has agreed to pay $335 million to settle a lawsuit claiming it misled shareholders about risky mortgages and its dependence on the electronic mortgage registry known as MERS.

Banks undergoing annual Federal Reserve assessments should feel emboldened to challenge "matters requiring attention," and the Fed should hear them out.

For "suspicious activity reports" to help combat crime, banks need to be able to disclose reports to their foreign branches and affiliates.

The government's aggressive (and unsuccessful) prosecution of tiny Abacus Federal Savings Bank stands as one of the oddest episodes of post-crisis era.

The Federal Reserve Board issued a proposal Friday to require the largest and most systemically risky banks to issue additional capital and unsecured debt to absorb losses in a failure, a move that experts say could ultimately make the banks less complex and easier to resolve in a crisis.

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