Law and regulation

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.

The Financial Stability Board said that it is tabling its work to develop methodologies for identifying systemically risky asset management firms until after other work to develop an activities-based regulatory approach has completed.

The Senate approved a controversial bill to fund the country's highway spending Thursday, setting up a protracted fight for the banking industry that will continue over the August recess.

Home Affordable Modification Program denial rates are still high, but the Treasury Department and top mortgage servicers contend that the numbers have improved.

The Federal Housing Administration is expected to rebuff a government watchdog report that blasted down payment assistance programs. The report has raised concerns that mortgage lenders would have to indemnify FHA for past loans, and that housing finance agencies would have the programs restructured.

A recent FCC ruling lumps legitimate businesses in with the telemarketing abusers and will hold banks to unrealistic standards.

The nation's Federal Reserve Banks have kicked off a multi-year process aimed at speeding up our often painfully slow payment system. Earlier this month, a Fed task force on the issue elected a steering committee that will play a key role in defining a path forward. The 19 members on the steering committee represent various parts of the payments ecosystem, including banking giants, corporations like Walmart that are large users of the payment system, and payment innovators like Dwolla and Ripple Labs. Here's a look at 13 of them.

WASHINGTON — Republican lawmakers continued their assault Wednesday on a portion of the Dodd-Frank Act that grants the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. the ability to seize and unwind a failing banking company, arguing that reforming the bankruptcy code is a better way to tackle "too big to fail."

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry laid out a sweeping financial reform agenda on Wednesday, suggesting he would force the biggest banks to hold even more capital or reinstitute elements of the Glass-Steagall Act.

In a two-day marathon markup, the House Financial Services Committee passed 14 financial reform bills, including measures to broadly restructure the Federal Reserve, block some CFPB rules and limit compensation at the GSEs.

MasterCard is cooperating with a European investigation into its fees, though it is questionable that this process will have a widespread effect on interchange, according to MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga.

Regulators have given the merger between CIT Group and OneWest Bank the green light — so long as CIT comes up with a revised Community Reinvestment Act plan. This condition is good news for the low-income communities impacted by the merger and sets a strong precedent for regulators' review of future bank deals.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is still not producing enough adequately-trained examiners necessary to monitor Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to an inspector general report.

The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program is renewing calls for further investigation of servicers it claims may be denying too many Home Affordable Modification Program applications.

The House Financial Services Committee tackled several key bills including ones targeting Operation Choke Point, executive compensation at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, small banks' exam cycle, and changes or delays to several actions by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Bank of America and Goldman Sachs have promised the Obama administration to invest in, and provide other support for, efforts to fight climate change.

Bank regulators are likely to take further action to force banks to upgrade their cybersecurity processes as hackers continue to find ways to penetrate institutions’ defenses, Benjamin Lawsky, the top former New York bank supervisor, said Tuesday.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is charging two companies affiliated with Western Union and Fidelity National Financial more than $38 million in total charges for allegedly steering consumers into a mortgage payment program that cost them millions of dollars in fees.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is charging two companies affiliated with Western Union and Fidelity National Financial more than $38 million in total charges for allegedly steering consumers into a mortgage payment program that cost them millions of dollars in fees.

WASHINGTON — Three nonbank giants designated for tougher federal supervision received added guidance Tuesday on what regulators expect to see in the companies' mandated resolution plans.