Law and regulation

In a series of internal documents that were reviewed by American Banker, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officials repeatedly acknowledge its methodology could overcount the potential discrimination by firms, but say they prefer that to the alternative where bias is underestimated.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s involvement in the Justice Department's Operation Choke Point was minor, the agency's inspector general said Thursday.

The possibility that Congress may fail to pass a spending bill by the end of this month or not raise the debt ceiling had no bearing on the Federal Reserve Board’s decision to maintain its accommodative monetary policy, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said Thursday.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, said Thursday that he would not run for office in 2016.

Interest rates are still at zero, and banks will still be OK — though they may have to do a little scrambling. That could mean a shift away from short-term, rate-sensitive assets, or yet another round of cost-cutting.

House lawmakers from both parties had tough words Thursday for the National Credit Union Administration about its revised risk-based capital proposal.

Promontory Financial Group has hired former Citigroup and Bank of America executive Eugene McQuade.

Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged, opting to delay an increase amid stubbornly low inflation, an uncertain outlook for global growth and recent financial-market turmoil.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would prohibit lawmakers from using certain housing finance fees to offset unrelated government spending.

Not only do rules imposed under the Dodd-Frank Act threaten regional banks' lending capabilities, they could actually wind up increasing risk to the financial system.

Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and David Vitter, R-La., the lead sponsors of a bill to place more explicit limits on the Federal Reserve's emergency lending powers, say the bill is getting quashed by a full-court press from banking interests.

The window for moving financial services regulatory relief through Congress is rapidly closing, but there appears to be little hope that the partisan tensions that have stalled the process will ease in time.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig said favorable leverage-ratio treatment for certain derivatives would undermine postcrisis capital reforms.

The Senate passed a bipartisan bill late Tuesday that would cap executive pay at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Small installment loans with monthly payments limited to 5% of a borrower's income offer a way for banks to serve low-income customers' credit needs while turning a profit.

Simmons First National in Pine Bluff, Ark., has agreed to an early termination of its federal loss-share agreements for its acquisition of four failed banks.

One of the top anti-money-laundering regulators warned credit unions Tuesday that many do not appear to be properly following reporting requirements.

The digital currency industry reacted warily to a model framework for regulating such firms released Tuesday by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, arguing the language is too vague and treats digital assets like normal money.

License numbers for loan officers, real estate agents and settlement agents will be required on one of the new TILA-Respa integrated disclosure forms, raising questions about whether they could trigger investigations of possible illegal marketing services agreements.

WASHINGTON — A report to examine the conditions surrounding last year's unrest in Ferguson, Mo., is calling for officials to strengthen poor minority communities' access to banking services and curtail predatory lending to reduce crime and poverty.