Law and regulation

The details of the final Des-Moines-Seattle Home Loan Bank deal made it clear why this merger worked when past attempts had not and gave clues as to whether other institutions could one day follow suit. Following are three items that jumped out.

After four years of interagency wrangling, regulators are close to re-proposing a plan that would set minimum standards for executive compensation for banks and credit unions, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said Tuesday.

Six federal regulators on Tuesday issued a final joint policy statement laying out standards for assessing financial institutions' diversity policies.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's "qualified mortgage" rule has put a damper on the recovery of the housing market, according to an American Bankers Association survey.

Farmers Capital Bank in Frankfort, Ky., has completed the redemption of its Troubled Asset Relief program preferred shares for about $10.1 million.

The harsh capital treatment of Trups holdings under Basel III undoes the regulatory relief already extended to community banks that had invested in the securities.

In a letter to nine lenders, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said investigators uncovered identity-theft schemes hatched by tellers at some of the biggest institutions.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issued a proposal Monday laying out two options to deal with the growing potential threat from interest rate risk in the banking sector, with one entailing new minimum capital requirements and the other establishing strong supervisory benchmarks.

Several weighty issues remain on the agenda for policymakers over the next few months, including everything from living wills to regulatory relief to a long-lost compensation rule.

New York financial watchdog Benjamin Lawsky is stepping down, and his successor is likely to follow a similar strict yet innovative approach to Wall Street oversight. However, the next head of NYDFS would likely benefit from better industry relations.

A recap of the informed opinions (and the discussions they generated) on BankThink this week, including the debate over how to expand access to mortgage credit and the dangers and opportunities presented by large-scale corporate data mining.

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Guarantee Mortgage Corp. has agreed to pay a $228,000 fine to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on allegations that it violated rules dealing with loan originator compensation.

With GOP and Democratic leaders far apart on respective visions for regulatory relief, the spotlight is even brighter on moderate Democrats the GOP may try to win over to support a broad relief package.

U.S. banks are poised to score a victory in their fight to keep regulators from pinching the billions of dollars in fees they charge consumers who overdraw their accounts.

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.

PHH Corp. has been ordered to pay $109 million over allegations that it illegally accepted kickbacks on reinsurance premium payments after Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray partially overruled a decision previously made by an administrative law judge.

Federal Reserve Gov. Daniel Tarullo laid out his vision for identifying and addressing any possible risks in the asset management industry, which he said centers around run risks and potential for creating excessive leverage.

Nearly three dozen Senate Democrats are pushing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to adopt "the strongest possible" payday lending rules, including a requirement that lenders assess consumers' ability to repay the loan.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a consumer advisory on Thursday warning older consumers about misleading advertisements promoting reverse mortgages.