Law and regulation

Congress will kick off a busy session on Tuesday when lawmakers return from summer break, with a number of key banking priorities up for consideration.

Every consumer with a 401(k), retirement account or brokerage account ought to care about whether the government has the right to unilaterally amend a company’s operating agreement.

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 from our social media platforms.

Two top Justice Department and CFPB officials said this week that they are seeing more instances of redlining and lenders steering minority borrowers into higher-cost loans.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday approved Bank of America's model for assessing its risk-based capital requirements under Basel III's so-called "advanced approaches" process, making it the final U.S.-based global systemically important bank to have its own model approved.

The New York licensing process for virtual currency companies is stoking fears that firms which do apply could inadvertently open themselves up to prosecution.

Dark pools have a bad reputation these days — but they also reduce the transaction costs of large trades and help provide the market with liquidity. That's why regulators need to ensure these platforms fulfill their intended purpose instead of simply shutting them down.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's enforcement action against Ripple Labs sent a clear message to the cryptocurrency industry about regulators' high expectations for compliance. Such actions will help clear the way for banks to partner with blockchain technology firms down the line.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s second-quarter industry update showed steadily rising loan balances making up for persistently tight net interest margins.

Ebrahim Shabudin, former chief operating officer and chief credit officer at United Commercial Bank in San Francisco, has been sentenced to 97 months in prison for securities fraud related to the bank's failure.

Banks are seeing steady growth in consumer loan demand nationwide, particularly in auto loans and mortgages, according to a report released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve Board.

U.S. banking earnings in the second quarter rose 7.3% from a year earlier to $43 billion as institutions enjoyed higher revenues and lower noninterest expenses, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Wednesday.

Minorities receive surprisingly few small-business loans, high-level employment promotions and business contract opportunities. The federal government can help remedy the situation by collected detailed data on these matters from financial institutions.

The Federal Housing Administration is reissuing a loan certification proposal that has sparked industry concerns that it will make it easier for the Justice Department to sue lenders when they file claims for agency-insured loans that go into default.

More than half of real estate agents are planning to extend their sales contracts to provide more time for the closing processing due to the coming implementation of new mortgage disclosures.

Symphony, the instant messaging service supported by fifteen large banks, says it will be ready to roll on Sept. 15 despite the objections of Sen. Elizabeth Warren and regulators who fear its encryption technology will impede supervision.

A measure that would substantially cut the Federal Reserve's dividend payment to member banks is likely to prove difficult to remove from a Senate highway funding bill even though it has few public backers and many critics.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has lifted its operating agreement with the banking unit of Capital Bank Financial in Coral Gables, Fla.

A new study by the Richmond Fed confirms that swipe fees have only gone down for a small fraction of merchants, contrary to congressional intent. This finding should spur the central bank to limit price-fixing to a reasonable level.

M&T Bank has agreed to pay $485,000 and change its lending policies to settle a lawsuit that accused the Buffalo, N.Y., company of racial discrimination in making mortgage loans.